
Class _EAii_ 

Book, .*t*l _ 

CopigM 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




CHARLES ROBINSON, 1894. 



THE LIFE OF 



CHARLES ROBINSON, 

THE FIRST STATE GOVERNOR 
OF KANSAS. 



FRANK W: BLACKMAR, Ph. D., 

Professor of Sociology and Economics (formerly History and Sociology) 
in the University of Kansas. 



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Crane & Company, Printers 

Topeka, Kansas- 

1902 






THE LrBflARY OF 
CONGRESS, 

TwaCoHES ReOEIVED 

JAN. 1T 1902 


COPVUKJHT ENTRY 

CLASS «- XXo. No. 


/ I* * 
COPY 


B. 



Copyright, 1001. by Frank W. Blackmar, 



«• • • .»• .•• • • ••• • • •• 

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• • •• *••■••• • ••••• • 

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PREFACE. 



The writer of this ^biography has had access to the ex- 
cellent collection of sources of the Kansas Historical So- 
ciety, including manuscripts, printed collections and docu- 
ments ; to the fine collection of Kansas books in the library 
of the University of Kansas, and to the public documents 
of the United States. He has conversed with many of the 
first settlers and other prominent citizens of the State rela- 
tive to the making of Kansas. He had also the personal 
acquaintance of ex-Governor Kobinson during the latter 
years of his life, and thus had an opportunity to glean 
much concerning the life, opinions and personal charac- 
teristics of the "Free-State" Governor of Kansas. 

Of especial value in the preparation of this work has 
been the large amount of material gathered by the untir- 
ing zeal of Sara T. D. Robinson, from her first advent 
to the Territory in 1855 to the present time, and by the 
courtesy of the owner placed in possession of the writer. 

In addition to these sources of history and biography, 
the writer has found it profitable to read a number of 
books written about Kansas, many of which have at least 
blazed the way through the forest of Kansas history. 
These books, some of great value, others of little worth, 

(3) 



4 PBEFACE 

fall into two classes, — those written contemporaneously 
with Territorial events, and those written during the re- 
cent renaissance of Kansas History. The list is too long 
to be mentioned here, though frequent references to some 
of these works have been made in the book. 

Having been identified with the educational interests 
of Kansas for a number of years, the writer takes pleas- 
ure in presenting this book to the public with the hope 
that it will find a worthy place among the books relating 
directly to the foundation and growth of the State. 

FBANK W. BLACKMAR. 

Lawbsnce, Sept. 1st, 1901. 



CONTENTS. 



Introduction 9 

Chapter I. Early Life 27 

Chapter II. California Adventures 43 

Chapter III. The Wager of Battle 87 

Chapter IV. Early Settlement of Kansas and the Wakarusa 

War 110 

Chapter V. The Constitutional Struggle 164 

Chapter VI. The Constitutional Struggle (continued ) 190 

Chapter VII. Local Affairs 250 

Chapter VIII. The First Governor of the State 267 

Chapter IX. Subsequent Events 292 

Chapter X. Controversies 313 

Chapter XL Promoter of Education 334 

Chapter XII. Character 356 

Appendix. Notes, Letters and Papers 383 



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ILLUSTRATIONS. 

Opposite 
page 

Portrait of ex-Governor Robinson, taken in 1894 Frontispiece 

Portrait of Sara T. D. Lawrence, taken in 1847 39 

View of Lawrence in 1854-55 121 

Portrait of Sara T. D. Robinson, taken in 1857 158 

Portrait of the Congressional Committee 201 

Portrait of Robinson and Captain " Bill" Martin of the Kicka- 

poo Rangers, — prisoner and keeper 205 

Portrait of Doctor Robinson, taken in Boston in 1857 219 

View of " Oakridge," the Robinson home 293 

Portrait of Sara T. D. Robinson, taken in 1864 298 

Portrait of ex-Governor Robinson, taken in 1872 301 

View of the city of Lawrence in 1899 304 

Portrait of Sara T. D. Robinson, taken in 1898 310 

Bust of ex-Governor Robinson, in the University Chapel 347 

View of the University of Kansas in 1901 350 



(6) 



INTRODUCTION. 



(7: 



INTRODUCTION 



I. 

The writer of this biography has tried to tell a plain, 
unvarnished story of the life, character and services of one 
of the foremost men in the struggle to make Kansas a free 
State. He has written with the consciousness that if only 
the truth were told, without any excessive laudations or 
evidence of hero-worship, the subject of this book would 
stand out as a prominent character in Kansas life, with 
clearly denned and important relations to individuals, po- 
litical parties, and to the community at large. The life 
and character of Charles Robinson are worthy of record. 
His career in Massachusetts, California and Kansas not 
only contains lessons for men's individual lives, but in- 
volves questions that affect human society, — questions 
which are of moment in the building of States and the 
protection and preservation of communities. 

In presenting this simple biography of a prominent man, 
no attempt is made to write a history of Kansas. To do 
this would involve tedious chronological details which 
could not be incorporated into a work of this nature. Yet 
it is impossible to portray the life of a prominent maker of 
history, one who was closely connected with the stirring 
events of his time, without giving much attention to the 
historical background. In doing this, much care has been 
taken to make this history not only correct, but full enough 

(8) 



10 



LIFE OF CHAELES BOBINSOW 



to be free from the faults of partial knowledge and half- 
truths. 

II. 

It is not an easy task to write a biography of any one 
of the prominent characters who engaged in the great 
struggle for freedom in Kansas, — for it was a great strug- 
gle, a national struggle localized, — since each individual 
life came in contact with nearly every phase of the build- 
ing of a new commonwealth in a wilderness. The diffi- 
culty is greatly increased on account of the confusion of 
political and social affairs. People of every variety of 
political opinion, possessed of different notions of govern- 
ment, having different personal motives, objects and am- 
bitions, came from every part of the Republic to mingle 
their lives and their ideas in social union. Here were 
Democrats of every shade of belief, from those having 
liberal views on slavery to the most radical proslavery 
loen; here were Whigs, Free-State men, Independents, 
Eree-Soilers, and Abolitionists, — all crowded together 
under the pressure of an intense political life. Before 
any permanent government or social order could be estab- 
lished, these men of widely divergent views must reach a 
common basis of action regarding government. In other 
words, they must become socialized before an effective gov- 
ernment could be put into operation. This diverse and 
shifting life of intense activity left its impress upon those 
who passed through it, and therefore to a certain extent also 
upon the history of Kansas. Strong individuality is char- 
acteristic of all Kansas history that has yet been written ; 
for with few exceptions, each one who has written or talked 
has attempted to tell the story with his own individual col- 



INTRODUCTION 11 

oring, and seldom, especially, has a writer who went 
through the struggle succeeded in hiding his own person- 
ality sufficiently to write impartial history. It stands to 
reason that if each of ten men tells the same story in a 
different way, each coloring it by his own personality and 
viewing the facts from his own standpoint, the other nine 
will be dissatisfied with his account and will criticize it 
severely. History so narrated will be a medley, and it is 
upon such a medley that the student of Kansas History has 
to look at present. Yet is is fortunate that so many who 
passed through the struggle have told the story as they 
viewed it, and unfortunate that many others allowed life 
to pass without writing what they knew of early Kansas 
history. The difficulty of collecting, sifting, comparing 
and classifying the material of Kansas history, so as to 
make a judgment just and fair to all, is therefore great. 
The large historical movements are tolerably well defined ; 
but local events and the details of movements which can 
only be determined by the corroborating testimony of 
eye-witnesses, need to be carefully recorded before it is 
too late. If this is done, perhaps then some historian will 
at last appear, unbiased in judgment and keen in discrim- 
ination, who will eliminate the personal element from his- 
tory, consider faithfully and impartially all of the frag- 
ments, take each at its true value, and weave the whole 
mass into one presentable continuous narrative. 

Kansas history seems at present, however, to be in the 
biographical period. Those who now write and talk upon 
the subject appear to be chiefly desirous of summing up 
the lives and characters of the prominent actors in the 
great struggle to make Kansas free, and of those who were 



12 



EIFE OF CHAELES KOBINSOK' 



influential in building the commonwealth. And it is well 
to pause and find out truly what manner of men engaged 
in this great struggle, and what they stand for in the pro- 
cess of state-building, before proceeding to unravel the 
tangled web of Kansas history. The strong individuality 
displayed in the early struggle, the fierce controversies that 
have raged since, render it highly necessary that the 
achievements of all who were prominent in that struggle 
shall be carefully defined in order that the historical hori- 
zon may be cleared of clouds of error. 

The chief dangers to which those who have written 
about the early history of Kansas are liable to fall victim 
are the tendencies to personal bias of the writer, ambition, 
and hero-worship. Little that has been written of Kansas 
is without at least one of these defects. Many, indeed, 
have perhaps innocently fallen victims to current errors, 
but still more have been blinded by their own sympathies, 
which have fallen like a curtain over their intelligence 
and obscured their discriminating power. Others have 
been blinded by worshipping at the shrine of their heroes. 
Too long gazing at their idols has dimmed their vision 
and rendered inaccurate their delineation. Still others, — 
and this is the characteristic fault of some who played a 
leading part in the early struggle, — possessed of vaulting 
ambition to be regarded as the greatest among their peers, 
have unconsciously enlarged upon those events with which 
their own lives were most closely connected. Yet in all 
that is said and written about the early history of Kansas, 
there is something of truth, whose unmistakable voice is 
heard more clearly as time and the passing of passion and 
prejudice render us more familiar with events and men. 



INTRODUCTION 13 

As in all other new countries, so in Kansas, — hero- 
worship is a prominent feature of the new life of the new 
State. This is evident in the early as well as the late 
historical writings, and it will be a long time before it is 
sufficiently eradicated to permit the writing of a full his- 
tory of the State in which justice is meted out to all her 
sons according to service. The strong partisanship was 
an essential outcome of the variety of conditions contingent 
upon the settlement of Kansas. It could not be otherwise 
than that, where men's passions were deeply stirred, where 
each one was put to his utmost tension in subduing the 
soil, fortifying against the climate, endeavoring to make 
the land habitable, and at the same time fighting the battles 
of freedom, intensity of desire and purpose should have 
characterized every movement. Men were either for or 
against men and measures; to be otherwise was to be 
nothing. To be strongly in favor of one party meant a 
strong opposition to all men or parties on the other side. 
It would be a blessing to succeeding generations if some 
one well versed in the affairs of Kansas could obtain accu- 
rate knowledge of all that was done, and present it in a 
fair, impartial and wisely judicial way, so that each deed 
and event should stand out clearly in its proper propor- 
tion and relation to every other, and each man should be 
given full credit and no more for his part in the process 
of state-making. He who reads all of what has been writ- 
ten about Kansas history from the many different stand- 
points will find that the men who made Kansas free were 
many, and that the writer who attempts to show that one 
man saved the State has read the history only in part or 
was himself an actor in that history, and is moved by vain 



14 LIFE OF CHARLES KOBJNSOK 

ambition or selfish motive. When impartial history comes 
to make known who it was that saved Kansas to freedom, 
many names which have remained in obscurity will be 
illumined with the noble light of patriotism, and others, 
of the vaunting and boastful, will pass into deepest ob- 
scurity. 

III. 

Yet even now, vital facts of Kansas history stand out 
clearly and beyond controversy. One of the most impor- 
tant of these facts is the result produced by the passage 
of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. The immediate effect of 
this bill's becoming a law was to open the Territory to 
settlement by emigrants from various States in the Union. 
The causes of emigration were two-fold: first, the desire 
to possess free lands of good soil and in a country having 
an excellent climate; and second, the desire to settle the 
country for or against slavery. The long controversy be- 
tween the slave-power and the free States had reached a 
crisis. By a decision of Congress the question of slavery 
was to be henceforth referred to the settlers of new Terri- 
tories for its final adjustment. This meant either a settle- 
ment at the ballot-box or a passage at arms ; perhaps both. 
Kansas became a pivotal point in the controversy between 
freedom and slavery, an object lesson to the whole country. 
People rushed in from the North to make Kansas a free 
State, and from the South to make it slave. From the be- 
ginning, the struggle was to ascertain which side could 
furnish the most voters. Whatever some might hope to 
accomplish by prowess, planning and scheming, the Free- 
State people had really but one hope of victory, and that 



introduction 15 

was to outnumber the Proslavery voters. This they finally 
succeeded in doing, and won. 

But this struggle for mastery at the ballot-box involved 
the minor struggle for land; for many spurious claims 
were staked out by non-residents, chiefly from Missouri, 
who hoped to hold them from bona fide settlers and to use 
them as a pretended place of residence for voting purposes. 
!S T or was this struggle for land a small factor in the causing 
of the border troubles. Indeed, the getting possession of 
property was to some of far greater importance than the 
question as to whether the State should be slave or free. 
Following this rapid settlement of the Territory came the 
fraudulent voting of the proslavery people by hordes of 
voters who came from Missouri to outnumber regular 
voters, and by force to " stuff " the ballot-boxes. This 
caused the election, by unfair means, of a proslavery Leg- 
islature which made odious laws offensive to Free-State 
men, in violation not only of the spirit of the Kansas- 
Nebraska Bill, but also of the letter of the organic act 
which opened up the Territory. Thereupon the Free-State 
men openly repudiated this Legislature and the laws 
passed by it, and organized opposition to it. Incidents 
of this struggle were atrocious murders, invasions, the 
sacking of towns, and robbing and plundering. It is fair 
to history to say that this was not all done by one side. 
For while the Free-State men desired no strife and en- 
tered upon the plan of non-attack, they did not adhere to 
the principle or practice of non-resistance, but soon showed 
themselves ready and willing to defend their property, 
lives and rights to any necessary extent. The Free-State 
men were a fine class of people, but they were not all saints 



16 



LIFE OF CHAELES EOBINSON 



by any means, for they had among them those who could 
encourage and even perform dastardly deeds. In the emi- 
gration to a new country it usually happens that many 
reckless and vicious characters are mingled among the ma- 
jority of worthy and substantial people. Surely, Kansas 
was not an exception to the rule, and it is scarcely possible 
that all of this class should have hailed from Missouri and 
the South and none from the North. Yet for earnestness 
of purpose, integrity of life, and desire for justice and 
fairness in government, there is no comparison between 
the proslavery and antislavery elements in Kansas. The 
conduct of the former was from the beginning character- 
ized by violence and fraud, while the latter in the main 
desired liberty and justice to all. 

In the contest that followed the fraudulent election, the 
Free-State men showed their political sagacity by adopt- 
ing the so-called Topeka Constitution, completing an or- 
ganization, applying for admission to the Union, and thus 
keeping their forces together. By this means they defeated 
the Proslavery party, preventing the adoption of the Le- 
compton proslavery constitutions, and finally causing Kan- 
sas to be admitted to the Union under the Wyandotte 
Constitution. The change of national administration and 
the Civil War, followed by the abolition of slavery, com- 
pleted what the Wyandotte Constitution lacked of making 
Kansas a free State. For the phrase " white male citizens 
of twenty-one years of age," still stands in the present 
State Constitution as a last vestige of the old political 
struggle over Freedom in Kansas. 



INTRODUCTION 17 



IV. 



As already suggested, no little controversy lias arisen 
as to who was most prominent in the saving of Kansas to 
freedom. Plainly, however, it was the body of able men 
who stood shoulder to shoulder, after they had learned the 
lesson of freedom, persistently insisting that Kansas must 
be admitted into the Union without slavery. While there 
were leaders who won renown, much credit is due to many 
who do not appear prominently in history, but who can 
answer honorably and with pride when the long roll of 
heroes is called by the future historian who writes the 
whole of Kansas history. As to the Brown-Lane-Kobinson 
controversy, it is not easy to get at the whole truth and 
cause each man to stand forth in his true light. The three 
men were entirely diiferent, with different characteristics 
and different purposes. Each was called, upon to play a 
different part in the tragedy of freedom. Hence, granting 
that each one was sincere, noble and brave, it would be a 
difficult thing to make a comparison of the three on the 
same plane. They were too unlike, both in good and bad 
traits, to admit of a successful classification and com- 
parison of their qualities, and of their influence on the 
great national struggle between Freedom and Slavery. 
Whether this is equally true as regards the relative influ- 
ence of each in the smaller struggle to make Kansas a 
free State, the writer has attempted to say fully in the 
body of the work. Here a few words must suffice. 

For two years Eobinson was the resident agent of the 

Emigrant Aid Company, and his chief duty was to care 

for the affairs of the company in Kansas, and especially 

to look after the emigrants sent from New England and 
—2 



18 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

other parts of the East, and to see that there was estab- 
lished a government in which the rights of all citizens 
should be protected; hence he opposed the laws illegally 
made by an illegally constituted Legislature elected by 
fraud and violence. Yet he did not wish to rebel against 
the legally constituted Federal Government, although he 
felt at liberty to criticize its action when he deemed it 
wrong. While he did not hesitate to fight when necessary, 
bloodshed and violence were in his view ever to be avoided 
if possible. His characteristic was cool, deliberate judg- 
ment, and when once he had determined upon a course of 
action, he never wavered on account of personal conse- 
quences. 

Lane came to Kansas as a politician. Almost his first 
act after arriving in the Territory of Kansas was an at- 
tempt to organize the Democratic party for political pur- 
poses. From the beginning to the end of his career in 
Kansas, political ambition was his ruling passion. It did, 
indeed, cause him to do many brave and noble things, 
but it also caused him more than once to swerve from the 
path of justice and right; and finally, disappointed am- 
bition brought him to an untimely death. He was bold, 
passionate and impulsive, and his impulsive nature and 
powerful eloquence were of service in keeping up enthusi- 
asm among a certain element of Free-State men. He 
came all the way from a Proslavery to a Free-State plat- 
form, for he was keen in measuring political forces and 
he preferred to work with a majority. He was, neverthe- 
less, a man of action, and whether in the convention hall 
or open field, he swayed the multitudes by the momentum 
of his enthusiasm. Often did his fierce plunges compel 



INTRODUCTION 19 

the cooler-headed of the Free-State men to rush to the 
rescue and extricate the cause from a perilous position. 
While only the hero- worshipper can approve of his course 
in many of his devious windings, he was, nevertheless, a 
power in the building of the State and must be reckoned 
with; although it is scarcely safe to agree with some of 
the sweeping declarations of his eulogists. 

Brown should not be measured as a Kansan, for his 
contact with Kansas was little more than an episode. He 
should be considered from the standpoint of a larger na- 
tional life. What he accomplished in awakening a nation 
to its true sense of danger and in precipitating a great 
struggle can scarcely be measured. Strange and myste- 
rious was his life, and strange and mysterious was his in- 
fluence on the nation. The circumstances of his death 
made him a martyr in the eyes of the people of the !Nbrth. 
The dignity of martyrdom lifted him above the status of 
an ordinary violator of the law, but his heroism was ac- 
companied by fanatical ideas of making people just by 
killing them. Had not some one written a song which 
was subsequently adapted to him and which the nation 
took up and sang from ocean to ocean, his heroism would 
have passed and have been forgotten as did the heroism 
of thousands of others in the conflict for freedom, or 
would, at best, have been remembered with that of the more 
ordinary heroes of the earth, who, in their quiet way, 
did what they considered their humble duty. But he has 
become prominently and indissolubly connected with one 
of tbe greatest events of national history, and this fact 
alone will, of course, perpetuate his fame. Brown desired 
to precipitate a rebellion by the shedding of blood. He 



20 LIFE OF CHAELES BOBINSON 

wished to stir up a war that would never cease without the 
liberation of slaves. He undoubtedly hastened the corning 
of the war, but the war would have come had Brown never 
been born. In Kansas he wished to fight, and did so when- 
ever opportunity offered. 1 While he struck terror to the 
hearts of some of the Proslavery ruffians of the border by 
his violent massacre and his persistent savage attacks and 
resistance, yet he was soon aw^ay, and left the Free-State 
settlers of Kansas to bear the brunt of the reaction against 
his savage course. Verily, without attempting to detract 
from his greatness as a national character, but after follow- 
ing in detail his whole connection with Kansas and all the 
circumstances connected with it, one is inclined to say 
that his services to Freedom in Kansas have at times been 
overestimated. 

But of these three men it is idle, after all, to ask which 
is the greatest, for each in his own way will always have 
his admirers who will find in him noble qualities to eulo- 
gize. If, nevertheless, the question be asked, " Who gave 
the Free- State cause in Kansas the best service, — Brown 
the hero, Lane the soldier and politician, or Robinson the 
man and governor ? " the verdict of history cannot fail 
to give the palm to Robinson, the man and governor, about 
whom centered the Free-State forces. But of these, the 
most prominent characters in the Kansas struggle for free- 
dom, it is difficult, as before indicated, to measure one by 
the other; for Robinson was the only one to live a com- 
pleted life and to round out his years in the fullness of 
time; while one of the remainder met death at his own 
hands and the other was hanged for treason. In settling 

3 See Chapter X. 



INTRODUCTION 21 

personal relations, however, and the claims to relative 
greatness among those who figured prominently in early 
Kansas history, these are the characters that must be most 
dealt with. 

V. 

It is necessary to represent the life of Robinson, not only 
in relation to the public actions which occurred in the 
building of a commonwealth, but also in his relations to 
the lives and characters of his associates in the important 
events of the history of Kansas. Whether he has been 
entirely successful in this regard or not, the writer has at 
any rate tried to avoid throwing unjust discredit upon the 
actions of others, while presenting the deeds and character 
of Robinson. Though it is the life of Charles Robinson 
that is here followed in detail, yet in no case is any praise 
of his action meant to throw improper discredit upon his 
contemporaries. If it appears that undue importance is 
given to Robinson when mentioned in connection with 
other men, it must be remembered that Robinson is the 
subject of this biography, and that the services of others 
are not ignored if not eulogized. If Robinson, Lane and 
Brown were the most prominent historical characters in 
the early struggle for freedom in Kansas, there were 
numbers of other loyal men whose unswerving faithful- 
ness to duty, unflinching courage, and acute sufferings 
made freedom possible. Call the roll of the real heroes 
of Kansas, and the angel of justice will respond for hun- 
dreds who sleep in their graves, and for those living who 
are too modest to sing their own praises. How absurd it 
is, then, in view of the great numbers in the different 
types, classes, parties, who in different ways rendered effi- 



22 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

cient service to Kansas, — now absurd to hold up to the 
youth of the land the claim that one man saved Kansas ! 
Yet each should be zealous in telling of the valiant deeds 
of friends and foes, that the uncompromising truth of his- 
tory may be revealed. In this connection there may well 
be quoted a saying of Governor Robinson in an address 
to the students of the University of Kansas : " Who saved 
Kansas % Not one man, nor any group of men claiming to 
be leaders. It was the rank and file of the common citizens 
who saved the State to freedom. It was the union of the 
people in a common cause that saved the State." 

How true is this! For, notwithstanding all of the 
struggle and confusion, it was the majority at a ballot-box 
that saved the State. Not that other potent influences 
were not prominent in bringing this about, for there were 
many. There were times, too, when leaders were neces- 
sary, and then these leaders were not wanting. But here, 
as elsewhere, there were wise and unwise leaders; there 
were those who by their folly led on toward destruction and 
defeat, as well as those who led toward safety and victory. 
In writing this biography the author has no desire to make 
Robinson a greater man than he was. The only thing he 
has sought to do has been to draw a truthful picture of 
all that this man was and did, and especially to emphasize 
his public services. This the writer has endeavored to do 
faithfully, with the sole object of recording history truth- 
fully. 

Men differ so much in motive, in character, and in life 
in general ; the nature of their service varies and the con- 
ditions under which they struggle are so dissimilar, that 
comparisons are dangerous. It is quite impossible to de- 



INTRODUCTION 23 

tannine whether one deed is greater than another, until 
the services rendered by each can be measured. Who, 
then, can weigh and measure greatness, or how can motive, 
or duty, or character be estimated ? Or who can measure 
services and strike a balance between two important deeds ? 
There is no dividual essence of nobility, no ultimate 
analysis of real greatness. For he who does his duty has 
served his generation well; he is good and brave, even 
though the consequences of his service are small. Would 
that society might learn to recognize faithful service as 
the true element of greatness and as real heroism ! Look- 
ing over the history of Kansas and considering the long 
list of names enrolled as founders and builders of the 
State, one finds, indeed, that some have had more potent 
influences than others, not only because of greater indi- 
vidual power and genius, but also on account of larger 
opportunity. But not all the glory of the founding and 
building of the commonwealth may be rightly claimed by 
the leaders, whether self-constituted or whether so made 
by the law of gravity of character or the force of circum- 
stances. There have been many builders of the common- 
wealth; great, all of them, in the results of their work, 
for it took the cooperative labors of them all to achieve 
success in building a State and making it habitable and 
desirable for free men. Let us therefore try to banish 
unjust comparisons from our minds and from the printed 
page, and endeavor to make the life of each stand alone 
upon what he actually did. 

While it not easy to estimate the services of the prom- 
inent leaders in early Kansas history, it is even more diffi- 
cult to determine the positions of those worthy ones who 



24 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

in their own several stations of life did their whole duty 
to the cause of freedom. What of Wood, Seeder, Groodin, 
G. W. Brown, Deitzler, Walker, Blood, Cracklin, Ewing, 
Parrott, "N". J. Adams, Anthony, Woodward, Thacher, 
Morrow, Conway, Speer, S. C. Smith, Tappan, Holliday, 
Learnard, Legate, Jenkins, Moore, Edward Clarke, and 
many others who at different times stood firmly for Kan- 
sas, and did valiant service for the Free-State cause? 
Their deeds of valor and services to their country must 
not be overlooked simply because they are not the subjects 
of this story. In due time the historian will record their 
lives, every one in the annals of the State, among those 
who served their country well. Nor must we forget the 
great rank and file of settlers and patriots who acted, suf- 
fered and endured for the sake of humanity, though they 
cannot receive justice in a single volume confined in the 
main to a single course of events respecting what one man 
wrought. Yet the young Kansan, born under the sunny 
skies and beneficent influences of the present free com- 
munity, looks back with pride upon these actors in this 
tragedy of a commonwealth, whether leaders of a party 
of people, actors in legislative halls, or sturdy soldiers in 
the rank and file of life; and his heart, burns with en- 
thusiasm, and his cheek glows with pride as he ponders 
upon this early struggle, and he would count it a privilege 
to be numbered among the least of these worthy patriots. 

VI. 

From the life of Charles Robinson much of the early 
history of Kansas radiates in every direction as from a 
common center, and hia biography cannot be written with- 



INTRODUCTION 



out touching history at many points. How difficult the 
task, to extract from the great mass of information at 
hand that which will give a real life-picture of the man ; 
how delicate the work of portraying truthfully all that he 
did and was in private life and public service! In this 
presentation the writer has endeavored faithfully to abide 
by the rigid and unyielding truth as it appears to him 
after a careful weighing of all historical evidence at his 
command. Care has been taken not to write into the life 
that which did not exist, a common failing of biographv 
and a difficulty not easily avoided; although, perhap>, 
there is less danger here than elsewhere, because there was 
no ether of romance enveloping Robinson's earnest life, 
and no strange mystery about his going- and coming amon» 
his fellows. Xor was there any transcendent genius, bor- 
dering on insanity, that rendered his life and nature diffi- 
cult to understand. He was a plain man of the people, 
with an earnest character which inevitably revealed itself 
to those who came in contact with his daily life. He fol- 
lowed closely the line of conscientious duty, without fear 
and regardless of consequences. His life is not a fit sub- 
ject for the romancer or hero-worshipper. But, as a man 
who did his duty fearlessly and with great consequences 
to the community and the State, he is worthy of the ad- 
miration of his fellow-citizens and the affection of those 
whom he personally befriended. He who writes best about 
Robinson will tell without embellishment the plain story 
of his life, for the life will then speak for itself, its real 
nature and its lessons of wisdom. 



THE LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON. 



CHAPTER I. 

EASI/S LIFE. 

It is not uncommon for men of great importance to 
bftVO made no remarkable or unusual record in their boy- 
hood days. Such, indeed, was the case with Charles Rob- 
inson. Born in the town of Hardwick, Massachusetts 
July 21st, 1818, his early life was that of the ordinary 
New England youth of the time. Prosaic and simple as 
this life was, however, there were in it certain influences 
which helped to shape his future. And, in the meager 
data given us concerning his youth, there are revealed 
many characteristics which point toward the sturdy char- 
acter of the man. 

In the first place, Robinson descended from sturdy New 
England stock. His father, Jonathan Robinson, was a 
farmer, a zealous antislavery man of decided religious 
views, who traced his ancestry to the John Robinson of 
Plymouth Rock fame ; a man strong and uncompromising 
with any appearance of evil. The mother of Charles 
Robinson was Huldah Woodward, of a Xew England 
family not prominent in the records, but not the less 
for that reason to be honored. There were born to these 
parents ten children, six boys and four girls, to whom they 
desired to give as good an education as was possible in 
New England at that time. 

(27) 



28 LIFE OF CKASLES ROBIJSTSON" 

Perhaps the homelife in ~New England, with its fru- 
gality, neatness, discipline, and close sympathy between 
the members of the family, was the most important factor 
in the education of the times. It had been the saving 
fact of !New England life, as it was to be of that larger 
life that was to move westward to fill the valleys and 
plains, and to envelop the mountains of the continent, 
What a line of sturdy pioneers have emerged from the 
homes of Hew England and gone forth to subdue the 
West! 

Their home was a most hospitable one — to and from 
it friends came and went. In the simplicity of their lives 
they could give hearty welcomes ; the gathering of warm 
friends with the family added much to the charm of the 
homelife. The genuineness of this homelife was not con- 
cealed by the artificiality so characteristic of modern social 
life. There were two or three much-loved cousins who 
often added to the home circle their sprightliness and af- 
fection. There were other young people, too, who said 
they always chose their time for a visit at father Robin- 
son's during vacations, when Charles should be at home, 
for his constant love of joking and his keen repartee added 
much to the pleasure of their visit. There was, indeed, 
a vein of humor in his nature which the stern life-struggle 
too often suppressed in his after days. He frequently 
planned little home concerts which were always a joy, for 
the entertainment of guests. 

As might be expected from a consideration of his subse- 
quent life, Charles Robinson was a lover of nature, and 
very fond of straying off by himself, to sit down by the 



EAELY LIKE 29 

brook, under the shadow of the trees, to catch its sweet 
music as it rippled over the stones, and to dream of future 
days when he should own a man's place and bear a man's 
part in the great struggle of life. 

The religious life of the Robinson home was well regu- 
lated. Mr. Tupper, Congregational minister, was always 
welcomed to the family circle, and until the close of Gov. 
Robinson's life he was always spoken of with great affec- 
tion by the Governor. The mother of the family looked 
carefully after the Sunday-school lesson, and every Satur- 
day night the flock of children gathered around the table 
to learn all this lesson could reveal of morals and religion. 
They studied the lesson out of the Bible with the little 
concordance in it, so well known to the mother, aided 
by the light thrown upon it by Barnes, Greenleaf, and 
McKnight. She could point out the beauties of the 
literary style of the Bible, its figures and expressions, and 
as a daily reader, holding the great Bible in her lap, she 
was filled with the blessed spirit of Christ. It was often 
remarked by her children that they had never seen their 
mother angry, though she lived to the advanced age of 
eighty-seven years. 

Charles was born with a strong will and a defiant tem- 
per. During a time of religious awakening, when he was 
about sixteen years of age, he thought deeply and rever- 
ently, and at last came to the conclusion that his will must 
be controlled, that he must not yield to his temper again. 
A turning-point had been reached, and a change came into 
his life. His mother's admonitions, his minister's kind 
advice and Mr. Stone's life-giving presence had accom- 



30 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

plislied a transformation. He bound to his heart the 
motto which he loved : 

" The Upas tree when riven, 

Perfumes the ax which laid it low. 
Let man, who hopes to be forgiven. 
Forgive and bless his foe." 

And he promised daily consecration of the best that was 
in him to holy living. The result of this, his first and 
only great religious awakening, was to make life and re- 
ligion henceforth identical with him. 

After the ~New England custom, young Robinson's at- 
tendance on church was regular. 1 He took his place in the 
village choir, playing the clarinet, an instrument of which 
lie was then very fond and which afforded him much 
pleasure in after life. Later in life, however, he severed 
his formal connection with the church. To show the 
change that subsequently came over his religious beliefs, 
it may not be out of place here to refer to a few events, 
insignificant in themselves but of great importance as in- 
dicating this change. 

A small hamlet, named Storrsville, had sprung up at 
the adjoining corners of four towns. For the accommoda- 
tion of the people a school-house and an unpretentious 
church were built at the center of the village. As this vil- 
lage was nearer the Robinson home than was Hardwick, 
which was situated in the opposite direction, the Robinson 
family turned their steps thitherward on Sundays and on 
other days of religious worship or festival. But, as time 
went on, the little group of Congregationalists found it 

1 As one carriage was not sufficient to carry the entire family, young Robinson found 
it necessary to walk. Thus, with work on the farm, with journeying to and from school 
and church, he had sufficient opportunity for exercise. 



1 
difficult to pav their minister and maintain services at 

-villc. Finally the minister was invited to become 
the pastor of the elmreh ;it Dana, 0H6 of the four towns 

whose little corner bad been taken up by Storrsville, and 
the church members were to he transferred to Dana with 
their pastor. Bui as Charles Robinson was attending 
school at Eardwick, bis Dame was left npon the church 
at Storrsville. Subsequently, in the year L852, when 
Robinson was practicing medicine at Fitchburg, he re- 
ceived a letter from the pastor of the church at Dana ask 
ing him to come over and state bis view- and belief and 

take a letter to tin' Fitchburg elmreh, " if he should prove 

worthy to receive it." Dr. Robinson complied with the 
request, and, accompanied by Rev. Elnathan Davis, pastor 

of the Fitchburg elmreh, "a mosl gifted man, full of the 
spirit of peace and good-will," went to Dana to be exam- 
ined and to receive his letter. The questions were those 
which are sometimes asked of young ministers in the 
church of the present day. They were chiefly a- follows: 
'•!)<> yon believe in God! Do yon believe the Bible La 

inspired, every word of it j Do you believe in future pun- 
ishment ( Do you believe in the Atonement V ami rarious 
other que>tion> concerning predestination, election, and 
"tree will. Dr. Robinson answered these questions in his 

own way, which indicated the independence of his relig- 
ious belief, and, as it appear-, severed his formal relation- 
ship with the church, for he never afterward formally 
united with any church organization, although he favored 
all denominations as agencies for good. Plis answers to 
the questions asked were essentially these: 

"I believe in God, the maker of all things, who still 



32 LIFE OF CHAELES KOBINSON 

abideth. in all things. In him we live and move and have 
our being." 

" I believe the Bible inspired, so far as it is truth. 
As a history of the Jews, many legends are woven into 
its story, and many statements which no thoughtful man 
can believe true." 

" I believe every man will receive his reward for every 
deed done in the body, and there is no escape from the 
penalty of sin. Every human being must listen and fol- 
low the inner voice implanted in him by the great Creator, 
and look upon his life as a heavenly mission." 

" The Atonement is the At-one-ment of the great Father 
with all his children. They learn by following the blessed 
life of Christ how to become one with him, as he is one 
with the Father. Were they not free to follow this most 
inspiring exhortation, it would be most cruel." 

Nothing more was ever heard of that little examination 
of Dr. Robinson before the pastor at Dana, and for any- 
thing he ever knew, his name may yet stand alone on the 
old Storrsville church records, in that little decaying ham- 
let, which in its loneliness seems almost to be forgotten 
of God. 

He had one great sorrow in those early days, by which 
he was much influenced. He was exceedingly fond of his 
eldest brother, John, who was twenty-five years old, a man 
of fine presence and excellent countenance, tall and com- 
manding. Charles often wished as he looked at his broth- 
er's beauty of form and figure, that he might grow up to 
be as well formed as this brother. Early in life John 
thought the time had come for him to leave New England 
and to try his fortune in other lands. So, one bright 



EARLY J-1FK 33 

autumn day he bade them all good-by. It was hard for 
the mother to say the last, words and look her last upon 
her stalwart son, as he took his leave to go to New Orleans. 
One letter came to them from Cincinnati, which an- 
nounced that lie was well, and expected to leave soon for 
New Orleans; but they never heard from him again, and 
though sometimes some little clue would be given whereby 
they hoped to learn of him, no word ever came, and to 
them all it was a lifelong sorrow, especially to the younger 
brother, who had taken such a pride in the eldest born. 

It was exceedingly fortunate that Jonathan Robinson 
was zealous concerning the education of his numerous 
family. Young Robinson was sent to the private school 
in his native town, which was situated about three miles 
from his home. Here, under the tutorage of a certain 
Mr. Goldsbury, he made rapid progress in the elementary 
branches. Mr. Goldsbury was a Universalist preacher, 
and he possessed the bappy faculty of teaching mathe- 
matics well. His pupils grew strong under his instruction. 
Subsequently, a Mr. William B. Stone, a student from 
Amherst, taught the neighborhood school, and succeeded 
in arousing in young Robinson much enthusiasm for 
study. This was the real beginning of his career, for 
under the direction of this able instructor his mind began 
to show independence and originality of thought. 

The pleasant little district school-house among the trees 

near the roadside was only a few rods from Mr. Robinson's 

farm-house, hence it was convenient for Mr. Stone to make 

his residence in the Robinson home. He was essentially 

a good man, thoroughly imbued with the spirit of the 

times, and, while using every energy to educate himself 
— 3 



34 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

for the high purposes of life, he was careful to give aid to 
those about him. Hence, his daily presence in the house 
was of untold benefit to all the members. 

In the Robinson home there was much conversation on 
all matters which were then filling the public mind ; mat- 
ters so engrossing that life seemed to be absorbed in them. 
Among other vital questions were: How should the coun- 
try free itself from the strong grasp of slavery; how 
should intemperance be suppressed ; how should the grow- 
ing youth of the country come to the estate of manhood 
and womanhood, noble and self-sacrificing, pure in heart 
and pure in all things relating to themselves ? Mr. Stone 
was an apostle of good not only in the home, but in the 
neighborhood. 1 Temperance practices were strongly ad- 
vocated. Cold water as it came sparkling from the clear 
founts of God was the only beverage tolerated. Even the 
elder Robinson gave up drinking his cider, which he had 
thought quite necessary to his happiness. Through the in- 
fluence of such a character, they unconsciously began to 
follow very closely Mr. Emerson's motto, " Plain living 
and high thinking." Physical laws were to be kept un- 
broken as well as moral and intellectual, and health would 
be the reward. 

At the age of seventeen young Robinson was sent to the 
Hadley Academy. 2 While he had sufficient help to enable 
him to utilize the advantages of education, he was thrown 
sufficiently upon his own resources to make him develop a 
sturdy independence and a manly character. For as eight 

1 See Appendix A, note (a). 

It is but a few years since the Cambridge ( Massachusetts) papers paid a glowing; 
tribute to his talent in teaching, and to his great moral worth- On his last visit to New 
England Governor Robinson said to Mr. 8tone, "All that I am I owe to you." 

2 See Appendix A, note {&). 



EARLY LIFE 35 

other children graced the home of Jonathan Robinson, it 
now became necessary for the youth of seventeen to begin 
in some measure to shift for himself; a great privilege to 
the boys of olden times, and a fashion which has not quite 
gone out in modern days. After a year at Iladley, Rob- 
inson entered Amherst Academy, where he again exercised 
the privilege of self-support. The authorities gave him 
the privilege of making the new desks and seats for the 
use of the academy. Therefore in the basement of the 
building was established a workshop wherein he wrought 
at carpentry to pay tuition, and where he at intervals 
pondered over the principles of philosophy. Subsequently, 
while pursuing his studies, he taught three winter schools, 
respectively at North Hadley, West Brookfield, Massa- 
chusetts, and at Norwich, Connecticut. 

It was but a step from Amherst Academy to Amherst 
College, although he had not completed the full course at 
the academy. After remaining in Amherst College for a 
year and a half his eyes failed, and he found it necessary 
to walk to Keene, New Hampshire, forty miles away, to 
apply to Dr. Twitchell for medical aid. Always on the 
lookout for opportunities, as every youth must be, he con- 
cluded to accept an invitation to study medicine under 
Dr. Twitchell. Possibly it might have been better had he 
remained at the academy and subsequently at the college 
until both courses were completed, before entering upon 
his medical studies. However, he did what many another 
person has done, who, lacking the proper direction of 
others, seeks his own course, abandoning conventional cur- 
ricula, and succeeding in his own way. 

After remaining with Dr. Twitchell six months he at- 



36 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

tended medical lectures at Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Dr. 
Ohilds, who afterward became Lieutenant-Governor of 
Massachusetts, was then president of the institute. After 
the course of lectures was completed at Pittsfield, he stud- 
ied for a time with Dr. Gridley at Amherst, and subse- 
quently attended lectures at Woodstock, Vermont. Dr. 
Rush Palmer, much celebrated in his day as an eminent 
physician and lecturer, was at the head of the Woodstock 
institution. Robinson finally returned to Dr. Gridley and 
remained with him until his medical education was com- 
pleted. His educational career would be considered er- 
ratic for a medical student of the present day, but it served 
to give a full medical education according to the require- 
ments of the times. His peripatetic education, so far as 
possible, furnished what the youth of to-day finds concen- 
trated in the modem medical college with hospital at- 
tached. It appears at least that this education was suffi- 
ciently thorough for a most successful medical practice. 

In 1843 Dr. Robinson commenced the practice of medi- 
cine at Belchertown, Massachusetts. 1 The town was of the 
old "New England type, covering a large area, being four- 
teen miles long and twelve miles wide. Dr. Robinson's 
practice was very large, and as the town was situated in a 
hilly district in Hampshire county, his numerous visits re- 
quired excessive labor. When he was fairly settled at Bel- 
chertown, he at once took his place as an active citizen of 
the town. He used the profession of medicine as a means 
of educating the people. He never failed in his practice 
to give valuable hints as to what course of living would 
give them health, and advised them that it was better to 

1 See Append!* A, note (c). 



EARLY LIFE 37 

keep well than to send for a physician to cure them of 
disease. He tried to impress upon them the fact that 
health of body, as of soul, was intrusted to their own keep- 
ing, — hence they should learn thoroughly the laws that 
govern both. There were many families that looked to 
him for guidance, rather than for medicines. He never 
joined the Medical society, because he could not accept its 
cast-iron rules; for he felt that he had the right as a 
physician to learn from any practitioner of any school, 
what was best for poor ailing humanity, and when he met 
his old instructor, Dr. Ohilds, at Pittsfield, and the latter 
rallied him upon his absence from the medical meeting 
at Fitchburg, his reply was simply, "Am I not following 
out your teachings ? " 

Dr. Robinson was interested in the town schools, and 
was soon placed upon the School Committee. lie identi- 
fied himself with the people, and was often at the little 
literary circle. To its program he frequently contributed 
some spicy article which would occasion much discussion. 
He was a frequent attendant at the Sunday-school 
teachers' meetings, and a constant worker for temper- 
ance. Then, as later on, he found the question of tem- 
perance a difficult one to deal with. In the solution of the 
problem he insisted on justice to all. If the selling of 
strong drink at the hotels could not be stopped, why should 
poor old Captain Burt be prosecuted in his little workshop, 
where he sold an occasional glass to a poor neighbor ? 

Just at this time, John W. Nbyes was preaching the new 
salvation from sin; that all days were holy time; that 
the injunction, " Be ye perfect, as also your Father in 
Heaven is perfect," could it not be obeyed, would not have 



38 LIFE OF CHAELES ROBUST SON 

been given. There was a handful of people at Belcher- 
town who had become much interested in Noyes's preach- 
ing. Noyes was well educated, being a graduate of New 
Haven Divinity School, and he exercised much influence 
over his followers. They held their little meetings, and 
occasionally the stroke of the hammer was heard in their 
dwellings on Sunday. But the minister of the Belcher- 
town Congregational Church was not a broad-minded 
man; hence, he would not let the poor harmless people 
rest unmolested in their beliefs and practices. Law-and- 
order meetings were called, and much angry spirit was 
aroused. Dr. Robinson's sympathies were with the perse- 
cuted Perfectionists, as those Avho knew him might well 
suppose, and he was glad when one after another they fol- 
lowed Noyes to Oneida, New York, and quiet reigned 
again in that lovely hill town. 

At this juncture an event occurred which was of vital 
importance to Dr. Robinson. He was summoned to attend 
the daughter of Myron A. Lawrence. 1 Miss Lawrence, 
while at school, had met with a severe accident, having 
fallen upon some steps with such violence as to injure her 
spine. Her natural vigor had declined, and a sympathetic 
blindness had set in. Various physicians had exercised 
their skill upon her to bring back her health, with not very 
good success. One evening in the late autumn of 1843, 
the lamps had been lighted and the family of Mr. Law- 
rence were taking their supper, thus leaving the little girl 
alone, lying on the large sofa in the sitting-room, to watch 
the firelight in the fireframe and dream her dreams. She 
was thinking of the days to come, whether they were to 

3 See Appendix A, note (d). 




SARA T. D. LAWRENCE, 1847. 



EAJtLY 1>3FE 39 

be for her many or few; whether they were to be days 
of tiresome inactivity, perhaps even of hopeless invalidism. 
All at once there was a gentle ringing of the doorbell, a 
quick step in the hall, and then the door into the sitting- 
room was opened almost instantly and Dr. Gridley of Am- 
herst walked in. He said " Good evening," to the little 
girl as he came toward the sofa, but she made no reply. 
With the firelight only, and her Aveakened sight, she could 
not at first tell who the gentleman was. Then he said, 
"Well, don't you know me — Dr. Gridley? And I have 
come to introduce you to your new doctor — Dr. Robinson. " 
There was a brief consultation over the case, and Dr. 
Gridley's suggestion to send to Boston for Spanish leeches 
was followed out. The next night after they had been 
used, they crawled out of their bottle and under the thin 
muslin cover, and went to their death in the bed of coals 
raked up on the hearth. At least so it was supposed, for 
they were never seen more. When the young doctor made 
his next visit he said he thought blisters and cups and 
leeches had been given sufficient trial. Would it not be 
better to try some new methods, less wearing upon the 
nervous system I Accordingly, Dr. Robinson made a 
quick journey to Hartford and came home at evening 
well satisfied with his purchase of a galvanic battery. 
There was immediate gain from this change of treatment, 
and it continued to be rapid and sure. The young Miss 
Lawrence regained her health, and years after became the 
wife of her successful physician. 

Dr. Robinson threw his whole zeal and energy into 
his work at Belchertown, which proved to be a great strain 
on his not over-rugged constitution. Consequently, in the 



40 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

spring of 1845 he went to Springfield, Massachusetts, and 
there opened a hospital for practice. In conducting this 
hospital he associated with him Dr. J. Gr. Holland, a well- 
read physician, and subsequently widely known on account 
of his literary career. He was a native of Belchertown, 
and had been a room-mate of Dr. Robinson at Pittsfield, 
where the two became well acquainted. Dr. Holland was 
a fine singer and a most companionable man, but not a 
very successful practitioner. His literary career is well 
known, as he was the writer of many books, and the first 
editor of Scribner's Monthly. 

While at Springfield, Dr. Eobinson found it impossible 
to confine his work to hospital practice, and so his visits 
extended far and wide in Springfield and the surrounding 
towns within a radius of twenty miles. 

In the summer of 1843, soon after he commenced prac- 
ticing at Belchertown, Dr. Robinson was married to Miss 
Sarah Adams, of Brookfield, Massachusetts. Two children 
were born to them, both dying in infancy. On the 17 th of 
January, 1846, while he was practicing at Springfield, his 
wife passed from this life. This loss had a lasting effect 
upon his character, and appears to have changed the entire 
course of his life. 

Failing in health on account of excessive practice and 
broken in spirit on account of his severe loss, he was in- 
duced, in the spring of 1846, to leave Springfield and go 
to Fitchburg, where his brother Cyrus was located. 1 He 
at once entered into the life and activity of the town, doing 
with his might what his hand found to do. It was healing 
for his spirit, for it was ever his method to find cure for 

1 See Appendix A., note (e). 



BASLT LLFE 41 



his own Borrows in active work for others. Bu love of 
music new Led bin to become the first bass singer in Rev. 
Mr. Davis's church. When possible be met with the choir 
it rehearsal, and once a week with the singers a1 s 
private bouse. Many young men, just commencing prac 
tioe In law or medicine, bad located in the (own, and 
other young men fresh from school were glad to unite with 
them in a weekly debating lyeeum which interested fa 
in all important matters of a public nature, The town 
hall contained a full audience when Dr. Robinson 
known to be one of the debaters, for he often had a wai 
of looking at the subject which was quite novel to his 
hearers. ]t was there he became fully convinced that to 
make men temperate, not only in what they should drink 
but what they should eat, and in all matters of living, 
they must be educated in the laws of their being, and Iran; 
to obey them. They must realize that to break one of these 
laws is to break a law of God, and there can be no escape 
from its penalty. About this time he became a charter 
member of the Sons of Temperance, and gave the order 
his hearty support. 

In Fitchburg he was one of the School Committee, and 
at this time there were some little mischievous boys there 
who gave the teachers much trouble. The teachers had 
come to the conclusion that punishing was of no more use, 
and were at a loss to know what to do to make them oh 
the laws of the school, when Dr. Kobinson said, " Send the 
unruly boys to me." Xot one of them ever came twice. 
We do not know what was said, but they were doubtless 
words convincing them that they were working for their 
own hurt, words of persuasion that only in themselves lay 



42 LIFE OF CHAEXES EOBINSON 

the power to be dutiful scholars in school, obedient boys 
at home, and respected citizens when they should take their 
part on the stage of action. The light upon their faces as 
they went out of the house was very different from their 
sullen look when they came in, showing that new thoughts 
had taken possession of them. 

It appears that wherever Dr. Robinson went, he soon 
became overburdened with excessive practice. This was 
true at Fitchburg to such an extent that he was soon worn 
out with the duties of his profession. Night sweats and 
a severe cough which now attacked him indicated his 
critical condition. While he was casting about what to do 
for his health, thoughts of a trip to California were prom- 
inent in his mind. About this time a company was being 
formed in and around Boston for an overland trip to Cali- 
fornia. The first party to set out for San Francisco from 
Boston and central Massachusetts had sailed in January, 
via Cape Horn. The success of Dr. Robinson as a prac- 
ticing physician and his wide reputation in different parts 
of Massachusetts caused the Boston Company to accept 
him gladly as the company's physician on their route to 
California. So, on March 19th, 1849, he started out with 
the first company from Boston to the Golden Gate, passing 
through St. Louis and overland through Kansas. The 
adventures of this trip, many of which border on the ro- 
mantic and even marvelous, will be recited in another 
chapter. 1 

1 See Chapter II. 



CALIFORNIA AI \ !■ V! i 43 



CHAPTER II. 

CALIFORNIA ADVENTUB 

An incident in the life of Robinson is about to occur 
which will change his entire future. In a peculiar way 
he is to become interested in the emigration to Cali- 
fornia. 1 For it was at this time the whole country was 
aroused by the discovery of gold in that country. Men 
ev( rywhere caught the fever, and were hurrying westward 
in the vain endeavor to be first in locating mining claims. 
Not only the adventuresome West but the staid East was 
stirred with unbounded enthusiasm. Thousands from 
every part of the United States took up the long journey 
overland to the new El Dorado, or by boat passed by way 
of the Isthmus, or by steamer " round the Horn,'' to San 
Francisco. 2 

In the winter of 1840 a party was formed in and 
around Boston for the purpose of emigrating and settling 
in California. " This party was composed of men of all 
classes and professions, including tradesmen, clerks, manu- 
facturers, mechanics, farmers, and laborers. It was organ- 
ized in the form of a military company, with a full list of 
officers from captain down. The privates and non-commis- 
sioned officers wore gray uniforms, while the commissioned 
officers wore navy blue. An assessment was made upon 
each member, and all property was purchased, and con- 
trolled by the officers." In this strange company, having 

1 See Chapter III. Kansas Conflict. 

8 The first steamer bearing a party from New England left Boston in January, 1849. 
Two friends of Dr. Bofcinson, N. D. Ooodale arid Enoch Burnett, were members of the 
party. 



44 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

the form only of military organization but without military 
discipline, was found Charles Robinson, who had entered 
as physician to the company. He was to be relieved of 
all responsibility other than the care of the sick. The 
nature of the man, however, rendered it certain that other 
responsibilities than the care of the sick would be thrust 
upon him. For in any association of men, those of supe- 
rior judgment and ability are sooner or later called into 
general service, and so it proved in this case. 

This small party left Boston on March 19th, 1849, and 
started overland, traveling by railroad and canal to Pitts- 
burg and thence by steamer to Cincinnati, St. Louis, and. 
finally to Kansas City, or what was then known as West- 
port Landing. The whole journey was without striking 
events except the ordinary experiences of a long journey 
into a new country, which always brings with it a renewed 
interest from day to day as sights and scenes change. In 
the short pause at Cincinnati, Dr. Robinson bought a 
beautiful cream-colored horse, which became a great com- 
panion and pet throughout the entire journey to Califor- 
nia, and was subsequently killed in the squatter riots at 
Sacramento. As they moved farther westward new 
classes of people boarded the steamer, and the New Eng- 
land party had an opportunity of forming the acquaint- 
ance of people from Missouri and the South. They were 
introduced, too, to the freedom and recklessness of the 
wild frontier life. They entered a land where law 
seemed much farther removed from contact with the peo- 
ple than in staid old New England. Knowledge gained 
on this trip of the class of people that were pouring into 
the West was of great service to Dr. Robinson in his 
subsequent career in Kansas. 



<a:,iioknja a 

Boon after the steamboat i t St Looifl OH its j<»iirn<-\ 
up the Missouri river, cImI* ra broke ou1 Bmong tho poi 
re. At. this time much ten waa known about this 

dread disease tluiu ;it p rO S O Pt, aud medical 906008 in 
general had not vet demons t rated itfl ability to c<>}><' with 
it under favorable oircamBtanoe& The physician of the 
on party was soon called into Berrioe. He was with- 
out medical library, and without any practical knowledge 
of the disease Bis information coi _ it consisted 

of meager descriptions in the few b he had read 

which tonched upon the subject. T! .< conditions on board 

of a river -trainer were DX)1 favorable to the Buppression of 

the disease, Thrown upon his own resources, he adopted 

ollowing plan of treating the i which it 

described in his own words : 

"It was found t hat all the fluids of the bodj wore leaving the 
surface and pouring inu> the alimentary canal. The features became 

pinched and anxious, the skin pallid and bloodless, and the muaclec 
of the extremities were affected with painful cramps. What was to 
be done? Evidently the first thing to be done was to reverse the 
vascular and absorbent machinery and -end the fluids bark to the 
surface and other parts of the system and relieve srampe. What 
would accomplish this result, and did the medicine sheet contain the 
required remedy? On examination, the doctor found tincture of 
opium (laudanum), tincture of camphor, and compound tincture of 
Capsicum (hot drops). The first two would have a tendency to send 
the fluids to the brain and surface and relieve ~].a-n<-. while the last 
would excite action of the vascular tissue and absorbent systems. 
Accordingly, these tinctures were taken in a mixture of equal parts, 
and administered in teaspoonful doses once in fifteen minutes, more 
or less, according to symptoms, till the flow of fluids should be re- 
versed and the cramps cease. Fortunately, this treatment proved suc- 
cessful in every case where applied on first attack of the disea- 

When the boat reached Kansas City the military oom- 

1 Kampae Conflict, p. 29. 



46 LIFE OF CHASLES KOBINSON 

pany was in a state of dissolution. As is frequently the 
case in all organizations of similar character, suspicions 
soon attached to the officers, who were accused of mis- 
management, and a general discontent arose. So intense 
was the feeling on the part of the members of the asso- 
ciation that no settlement of difficulties could be reached 
without a division of the party, and this of course neces- 
sitated a division of the property. Therefore two parties 
were formed, and Dr. Robinson was appointed one of a 
committee of three to assist in the division of the supplies 
and the settlement of the difficulty. This process occupied 
nearly five weeks of time, and it was the 10th of May be- 
fore the parties were ready to start on their journey 
westward. But the time was not lost to the observant 
nature of Dr. Robinson, for he studied the habits and 
characteristics of the people and learned something of 
Western farming and stock-raising. Much of his time 
was also consumed in the care of the sick, for during 
the first night after their arrival in Kansas City nine 
citizens were attacked with the cholera, and died. The 
services of the physician of the Boston party were again 
called into requisition, and during his entire stay he had 
an opportunity to exercise his professional skill to the 
utmost in caring for victims of the cholera. Upon the 
whole, the delay proved profitable and useful to Dr. Robin- 
son; and on the other hand, perhaps in no period of his 
life did he serve humanity better than during these few 
weeks' stay in Kansas City. Kor were the days in Kan- 
sas City without recreation, for in the long delay while 
they waited for the grass to grow on the plains, or engaged 
in the tedious division of the property of the company, 



OAJ U "i;ni\ .\in-i..N rUl M 

the ipare houn at the Little bouse where they bos 

enlivened with music. Dr. Robinson bad bought ;« 
clarinet in Cincinnati. A young friend of bis p 
the flnte well, and the two furnished music to the aeigfc 
bora of the temporary borne during Ihe evenings of wail 
The old Western farmer thought Dr. Robinson and 
the young man from Roxbury would d<> better " givin' 
than goin' to the gold diggin's." 
Two parties instead of one • itarl on the long 

Land journey of over two thousand miles to the Pa 
olhV Blope. Their organizations were completed by the 

10th <lav of May, thirty days after their arrival in Kansas 

City, and instead of going in boats coursing on the muddy 
Missouri they were to travel iii " schooners " over the 
rolling prairie- of Kansas and the plains of ihe West, 
drawn by cattle and mules, or on horseback, as many did. 
Tt was a life of wild experi< specially at first, (>>v 

inexperienced men were now attempting to manage wild 

- and wilder tnnle-. hitherto unknown to yoke and 
harness. Thus, with inexperienced driver- and untrained 
animal>, they were to enter upon a journey over a bound- 
less country with ill-defined road-. A •• - i " would 

frequently be fastened in the mud, and endless delays 
occur for want of discipline and order. There was much 
experience in the way of searching for the best routes, the 

Tossing of streams, and for the Ix'st method of re- 
sisting attacks from Indian-: indeed, the expedition be- 
came a little world of experience on wheels, in which all 
phases of human nature were tested. Those who started 
from Boston without experience lived years in a short 
journey across the plains. 



48 LIFE OF CHAKXES ROBINSON 

A very interesting incident is related by Dr. Robinson 
in regard to the discussion which so frequently occurred 
among overland parties respecting Sabbath travel. On the 
first Saturday of the journey it appears that darkness over- 
took the travelers before they had reached water, — a 
very important consideration in overland travel. The 
next morning, which was Sunday, it was found upon in- 
vestigation that the Wakarusa was only two or three miles 
aw T ay, and they decided to hitch up the teams and drive 
to water even though it was Sunday. This was so neces- 
sary that every member of the party readily acquiesced, 
even to the strictest Puritan among them. But w'hen 
they reached the river and the stock had been watered, a 
question arose as to whether they should continue travel 
on Sunday or not, as they were already prepared to go on. 
After a controversy a vote of the party was taken, which 
favored Sunday travel. But they had not pursued their 
journey very far when an accident to one of the animals 
caused a delay, and Sunday travel had to be given up for 
that day. The remainder of the day was spent in theolog- 
ical discussion, one party maintaining that the accident 
was a judgment of God on account of their Sabbath- 
breaking, while the other attributed it to improper attach- 
ments of the coupling-pins and to bad driving. One party 
appealed to the Decalogue and the other called for its 
reading, and when read it seemed to enjoin the keeping 
of the seventh day and not the first. From the Decalogue 
the appeal was made to the ]STew Testament, but it was 
found on examination that there was no sentence in the 
New Testament which enjoined the keeping of the Sab- 
bath. As in most discussions of this kind, no settled con- 



OAUhOKMA A' 40 

i i.at the men who 

were tin of Sabbath observance were 

afterwards Been at the gaming-tablee in Sacramento, bet- 
ting with other Binnere at "thiee-eard monte." Dr. Rob- 
thie narrative with t 1m- following sentence, 
which ! give as i own peculiar character- 

tstios: "Persons who depend upon outride pressure for 
religion are apt to adopt the customs of their surroundings 

when that preSSUtt moved; while the person who i^ 

governed by his own oonvictioi ighl ami what 

is wrong, regardless of public opinion and public custom, 
will l>e bnt slightly influenced by ( sternals." 

The journey overland, though full of changes and daily 
happenings, cannoi be followed in detail. They had the 
typical journey of the plain- <>f those times, consisting 
of long, monotonous days, alternating with those of wild 
adventure and positive danger. An immense crowd, folly 
20,000, had preceded them, and the gn eaten off 

fully half a mile from the trail on each Bide, and water 
scarce and difficult to ohtain. Doctor Robinson had 
three horses, — Charley, Old " Zach M Taylor, and " Doctor 
Slop." At one time the party had to camp at night with- 
out water. During the night the horse " Doctor Slop " 
broke away from camp, and in the search for him on the 
folloAving morning he was found quietly feeding by a boun- 
tiful stream of water, giving evidence of the acuteness of 
animals in the search for water. Not long after this they 
came to the St. Mary's river, in the desert, where they suf- 
fered for lack of food. Here Dr. Robinson's strength failed 
and a fever attacked him. His companions waited a day 

or two for him to partially recover, and then they all pro- 
—4 



50 LIFE OF CHAKLES ROBINSON 

ceeded to cross the desert. Dr. Robinson having packed 
grass upon two horses for their feed through the waste. 
They spent one Sunday at the new town of Salt Lake City, 
where, under the direction of Brigham Young, the " desert 
began to blossom as the rose," although the Mormons had 
been there but two years. 

The most important event concerning Dr. Robinson was 
an adventure which he had in the Platte river. It appears 
that some time had been spent in searching for the proper 
fording-place, the river itself always being deceptive in 
appearance. Sometimes when moving smoothly and evenly 
it appears like a deep flowing stream, while in reality the 
water may not be over three inches deep, flowing over a 
bottom of mud and quicksand. Searching for a fording- 
place. Dr. Robinson on his cream-colored horse plunged 
in to make the crossing. About midway in the river 
was a Hiiall island. This having been passed, the rider 
and horse floundered in deep water, and, becoming sepa- 
rated, the horse made for the opposite shore, while the rider 
returned to the island. While the rider was yet flounder- 
ing in the water, the horse, from the opposite shore, gave 
a loud neigh, and plunged again into the stream, swim- 
ming toward the island, which he reached about the same 
time as the rider. He immediately came and stood over 
the prostrate form of Dr. Robinson until the Doctor was 
able to mount and ride out to the further shore. This 
little act of intelligence on the part of the horse endeared 
it very much to its owner. The horse was so docile that 
he was at home wherever the camp was, without hitching 
or tethering, and whenever his master approached he would 
leave off grazing and place his head over the Doctor's 
shoulder to be fondled and caressed. 



< i 

When the oompan; 
of An B 19, I >r. R binson bad oha] 

man of l l"» pounds to a robust per 
of his pulmonary troubl 
The company, indeed, v. i properly a c 

when it reached California. The organization 
oughly completed in Boston before the party started 
ward, became finally wholly disinteg 

bed the State in •( the 

members entered the mil tin- pur] washing 

gold; other> finally Located in towns or on farm land-. 

Dr. Robinson soon abandoned the mines and book up 

in Sacramento, where he in company with 

others . and at the same time 

iced t<> ;t certain extent hi- medical profession. II<- 

found many • >ple in the eity who were in ne 

t'«x>d and medical attention. From tin 1 boarding- 
many r aid t<> b 
through the kind o 1 >r. Robinc 
gratis, medical attention which saved their lives, 
ae elsewb - mowed a kii 
to help those whi 

sufferers and those who ' alt with unji I him 

to become a leader of th 

Sacramento. 1 

In order fully to understand t taken 1>; 

Robinson in the squatter riots of Sacramento in 1850. it 
will be necessary t<> inquire specifically into the exact 
condition of the land question in California during the 
interregnum from the time of the occupation of California 

Bancroft's Works, Vol. XXXV, chapter XVII,— Sqvatterism. 



52 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

by United States authorities in 1846 to the admission into 
the Union in 1850, and the subsequent settlement of land 
claims. It is one of the principles of modern civilization 
as regards international rights and usages, that in con- 
quered territory or territory obtained by purchase, the 
property rights of all citizens living in the territory at the 
time of the change shall be respected and guaranteed. 
In the treaty between the United States of America and 
the Mexican Republic at Guadalupe Hidalgo February 2, 
1848, approved by the President March 16, 1848, and 
proclaimed July 4, 1848, property rights are guaranteed. 
All land titles and property of every kind belonging to 
citizens within the territory are guaranteed to the owner. 
Freedom in the use and protection in the right of said 
property are guaranteed under the Constitution of the 
United States. These provisions make all bona fide titles 
granted by the Mexican or Spanish government prior to 
the occupation by the United States government, valid and 
secure. 

It had been the custom of the Spanish government prior 
to Mexican independence, and subsequently of the Mexi- 
can government, through the Governor of California, and 
by well-defined laws and usages, to grant large tracts of 
land to individuals for the sake of colonization and oc- 
cupation, the largest grant not to exceed eleven square 
leagues of land. The aim of the government was to settle 
the territory by granting large tracts of land to individuals 
to whom the government was under special obligations. 
Unfortunately, in the granting of these titles the language 
used in defining the territory was usually quite indefinite, 
and in those days no definite survey was obtained. Usu- 



53 

ally the limit ermined bj 

defined natural boundaries, such as mountains tad i 

Hie result of !i: : ing of land 

by the time of the discovery of gold and the inc 

the settlers Prom the East, and in fa 

me world, a large proportion of the fertile land 

in small tracts along the river bottoms I 

by nunicT I d addition to 

many fraudulent ones bad been maoV rained, n 

would Beem to oover aim* ertile 

land in tlir Si. i 

To add to this non, the 3 

powerless to maki government of 

as the latter had not yet boon organized and accept 
i member of the Union, The courts alt 
organized condition, being in theory guided and regu 
by the Mexican c which prevailed everywhere until 

American customs were adopted, but tending all the time 
to break away from the Mexican system and to adopt the 
American. There was, then, no adeq authority 
testing land titles. Hence, when there came litis sudden 
influx of settler- wh leaking land- to pr 

the Bo-called "squatter rights," which had prevailed to 
such a large extent in the United States, the settlers found 
the lands all covered by rights resting upon Mexican 
grants, or bv assumed titles which might or might not be 
legal. This was, of course, a great disappointment to the 
settlers ; and when it was known that large numbers of 
fraudulent claims were being filed, and that men were 
using- all means within their power, both fair and foul, to 
obtain possession of large tracts of land for the sake of 



54 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

holding or speculating, the settlers looked upon themselves 
as defrauded of the rights of American citizens to settle 
wherever no legal title to land existed; for they believed 
much of this land to be a part of the public domain. They 
held that at least until title to lands should be decided by 
the Supreme Court of the United States, they had as good 
a right to settle on these lands and await the decision as 
anyone else. Evidently there was a great misunderstand- 
ing among the settlers because of the fact that the Mexi- 
can land titles were different from those of the United 
States. They had supposed that California, being open 
to settlement, was all public domain, similar to the new 
Eastern States and Territories when once these were 
opened to settlement. They had failed to realize that 
civilization already existed in California ; that a govern- 
ment had been established prior to the American occu- 
pation and American purchase; and that persons living 
within the territory were entitled to property rights supe- 
rior to those of new-comers or immigrants. 

The situation at Sacramento was peculiar. In 1839 
Sutter, 1 a man from Switzerland, had settled on the Sac- 
ramento river at the junction of the river with the Ameri- 
can river, where he built a fort and established a colony. 
His possessions reached far and wide up and down the 
Sacramento, American and Feather rivers. He lived on 
his domains like a feudal lord of old times, with his men 
as servants, helpers, and a small army drilled for defense. 
In 1841 he received a grant from the Mexican government 
of eleven square leagues of land. In December, 1847, 
Sutter reported the white population of his grant as two 

1 Bancroft" 6 "Worts, Vol. XXXV, p. 408. Kaneae Convict, pp. 38-41. 



hundred rides a large aumber of docile 

[ndianB, half-breeds, and Hawaiian-. Sixty houses clus- 
tered around the fort, and six mills and one tannery were 
within the district Thousands of bushels «• were 

d annually in I ile fields, and thousand 

cattle, horses, mules, sheep and b sed in the valleys 

and on the hills, [n 1840 Butter laid out the town of 
Butterville, three miles below the fort, on the Sacramento 
river. Subsequently the town i laid 

..in between Sutterville and the fort S as rights 

accruing from possession wen . Sutter certainly 

was the owner of tlii- last trad of land. So far, too, a> the 
intent of the grant by tb I nor in 1841 was 

rned, he had a clear title to the land. Unfortu- 
nately, by a blunder in the title deed the boundaries fix d 
for the territory covered over a thousand square leagues 

.,\id, and the southern boundary was placed some 
twenty miles north of the : the junction of the 

Feather and ih< Sacramento rivers; hence, if the 
were Btrictly construed, the fort, Sutterville, Sacramento 
and the surrounding territory would be entirely excluded 
from the grant. The third and fourth sections of the 
grant read as follows : ' 

" Third. The land of which donation i> made t»> him is <>f extent of 
<!<\<n sitios da ganado mayor ;;- exhibited in the sketch annexed to 
the proceedings, without including the lands overllowcd by the 
swelling and the current of the rivers. It i-> bounded on the north by 
los Tres Picas (Three Summits) and the 39° 41' 45" of north lati- 
tude; on the east by the border of the Rio de las Plumas (Feather 
river) ; on the south by the parallel 38° 49' 32" of north latitude; 
and on the west by the river Sacramento. 

" Fourth. When this property shall be confirmed unto him, he 

1 Text and map of gTanr, in pamphlet, "Fraudulent Location of the Sutter Grant," 
C. W. Boit, Sacramento. 1869. Kansas Conflict, p. 41. 



56 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

shall petition the proper judge to give him possession of the land, 
in order that it may be measured, agreeable to ordinance, the surplus 
thereof remaining for the benefit of the nation, for convenient pur- 
poses. Therefore I order that this title being held as firm and valid, 
that the same be entered in the proper book, and these proceedings be 
transmitted to the Excellent Departmental Assembly." 

It is evident from this that the intention was that Sutter 
should locate, by proper surveys, land to the amount of 
eleven square leagues within the boundaries described, and 
that the remainder within these boundaries should revert 
to the Government as national property. It is also clear 
that it was the intention of the Governor of California to 
include within this grant the fort and its surrounding ter- 
ritory, while in fact it excluded it entirely by the state- 
ments included within the grant. 

To make matters worse, Sutter, who had little con- 
ception of the boundary of his own land, being in doubt 
at times whether his title covered the territory in which 
his fort, Sutterville, and Sacramento were located, and 
being harassed on every side by land speculators, only 
deepened the confusion of the whole matter by his prodi- 
gality. The case is thus stated by Josiah Royce : 1 

"In 1848, when the gold-seekers began to come, Sutter began to 
lose his wits. One of the pioneer statements in Mr. Bancroft's col- 
lection says rather severely that the distinguished captain thence- 
forth signed any paper that was brought to him. At all events, he 
behaved in as unbusiness-like a fashion as well could be expected, 
and the result was that when his affairs came in later years to a 
more complete settlement, it was found that he had deeded away, 
not merely more land than he actually owned, but. if I mistake not, 
more land than he himself had supposed himself to own. All this 
led not only himself into embarrassments, but other people with 
him; and to arrange with justice the final survey of his El Dorado 

1 Royce : Squatter Riot of '59 ia Sacramento ; Overland Monthly, Vol. VI, (9econd 
series,) p. 227. 



v 

grant proved in lain •:.•■ «>f the nofl pei 

itet Disti lei and Supreme Cow I 

In I860, ill'- Bupreme Court, in fa attempt 
Sutter case, located the land in two tracts: one of 
leagues, Including the fori and oily; the other of 
leagues, <>n the Feather river, including fcfarysville. In 
the Di ourt -'-I aside this survey, and lo- 

cated the land in :i long line of thirteen trad- bet 

.mic Limits :i- before, with die idea of following 

own selection of territory. 1 Subsequently tin 9 
preme < Jourt Bel aside lecision, and I that 

of i v, '><>. Thus the Supreme ( Jourl 
bo Sutter as given in good faith, although the title had 

burned in a Sacramento fire. They attempted, amid 
great difficulties, bo settle the matter justly and equitably. 
But if commissions and courts found bo much difficulty 
in Bottling the land title of Sutter, il is easy to see how 
settlers would readily fall into the idea that the grant was 
irregular and illegal. Moreover, the grasping for land 
by Yankee speculators, the Bhrewd manner in which 
Yankees were outwitting the. oM Spanish gran 
seising the most fertile spots of California, tended bo 

I a distrust of all [and titles. Tin' manner in which 
speculators were obtaining control of large !*xli 
land seemed to the settlers like a process of robberv, by 
which they were defrauded of the rights of settlement on 
what they considered the public domain. 

The squatter riot of Sacramento, however, arose on ac- 
count of jxu'sonal sympathy which certain individuals had 
for the squatters because of the cold and cruel manner 

1 C. W. Hoit : Fraudulent Location of the Sutter Grar.t, Sacramento, p. 5 



i>b LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

in which many of them were ejected, on a pretended or 
real legal process, from lands claimed by others. The 
town of Sacramento was founded on land claimed by Sut- 
ter, and lots were sold directly by himself or by those per- 
sons who were granted territory by Sutter. The town, 
then, derived its right to be from the Sutter grant; and 
if this grant were valid, persons who bought lots in the 
town had a legal right to them. In the winter of 1849 
settlers nocked to the city, and occupied with tents and 
shanties the vacant lands in and around Sacramento. 

"In the midst of this rainy season, three men, including the 
Doctor, were passing along the levee between the slough near I 
street and the river, when they met a pretended sheriff and posse 
well charged with whisky. Curiosity caused the three men to stop 
and watch the proceedings. The posse went directly to a structure 
of logs and canvas, where was a sick man who had been fed and 
nursed by the Doctor for several days. This man was ruthlessly 
hauled from his shelter, and the logs and canvas leveled with the 
ground. One of the three watchers exclaimed, ' That is a damned out- 
rage! ' and the others joined in the exclamation. It was then and 
there the movement commenced that culminated in the squatter riot 
of the next year.*' 3 

These men resolved that such actions should be reported 
to the people, and that if possible, such outrages should 
be prohibited. A meeting was called to be held on the 
levee that evening. A cord of wood was procured to fur- 
nish light, and small handbills advertising the meeting 
were printed and circulated. When the meeting was called 
to order the speculators and their friends monopolized the 
speaking. After several speculators had explained their 
side of the question in set speeches, Dr. Robinson made 

1 Robinson : Kansas Conflict, p. 37. 



■ 
e platform and oflfi 

(ion : ' 

"U/ .mo land iii California i> j«r< ~ u : j m « ! to in- public land, 

"Resolved, That We \sill protect any Miller in iln- potMQBBJi 

land t<> the extent of one I « » t in r >! <mc hundred ind 

in Hie Country, till a \alid tit!*' -hall lie -huwn lor it. 

Tlii- ! bold assertion to make, li assumed that 

Butter title was not legal, or thai Sutter's claims 
greater than the law could warrant. 3 The resolution 
ived with great enthusiasm by t] 
crowds, and had its influence in preventing indiscrim- 
inate ejection of tenants. Bu1 in December, IS4 • 
ordinance wa« passed by the city council directing the 
removal • in improvements from city rapied 

squatters. 3 After the passa| this ordinance a 

'■al hundred men under the direction of the 
city marshal set out to execute the order, but the aqua 
organized into an ass i, and the president of the 

iation met them at the first attem] move 

rty, and boldly informed them that their authority 
to meddle with private property was not ed by the 

squatters' association, and that if th« ed the prop- 

erty they must kill the whole squan< ciation i 

wards. The little deputy marshal, well loaded with 
whisky, cried, "Shoot the scoundrel!'' But its no one 
appeared desirous of obeying his order, the posse retired 
from the field leaving the squatter in possession. 

1 Robinson : Kansas Conflict, p. 38, e t seq. 

8 C. W. Hoit : Fraudulent Location of the Sutter Grant, p. 2. Royce : Squatter Riot 
of "60 in Sacramento ; Overland Monthly, Vol. VI, (second series,) pp. 232-4. 
" Idem, p. 238. 



60 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

The next step on the part of the land-owners was to have an 
act passed by the provisional State Legislature, — although 
the State was not vet admitted into the Union, — to pro- 
vide for forcible entry and detainer, the land-owners 
hoping thus to secure possession of the land without a 
decision of the Supreme Court. 1 

Suits in the local courts continued to be held, and in 
these suits the courts always decided that Sutter's title 
was correct, and rendered judgment against the squatters. 
The squatter had a right to appeal to the probate court by 
giving bonds for the satisfaction of judgment; but all 
bondsmen must be land-owners, and as the squatters were 
supposed not to be bona fide land-owners, the right of ap- 
peal was tlius really cut off. The city council also pro- 
ceeded to pa^s a municipal ordinance forbidding anyone 
to erect tents or shanties or houses, or to heap lumber or 
other incumbrances npon any vacant lot belonging to any 
private person or upon any public street. 2 The land- 
owners also formed a law-and-order association, and cir- 
culated handbills asserting their intention of defending 
their property. Numerous encounters of a minor nature 
occurred, but the agitation was gradually dying out on ac- 
count of the absence of Dr. Robinson from the city for two 
months. 3 On his return, in the latter part of July, the 
movement had fallen into the background of public atten- 
tion and great discouragement prevailed among the squat- 
ters. Observing the situation of the courts, and seeing that 
no appeal could be taken from the decision of the local 

1 Royce : Squatter Riot of '50 in Sacramento ; Overland Monthly, Vol. VI, (second 
series,) p. 238. 

2 Idem. 3 Idem. 



CAI.1I OKNIA \: 61 

:' land in 

the <>: of the city, put op a large tenl upon them, 

and moved in. When ii • nurnd, he offered 

himself at bail. When the court asked him in regard to 
bis title, he said it * there was in the oily, 

held that he oonld not try titles, and must 
aecopl the bondsman on his i I right to 

the property offered, whose value wu pli *100,000. 

Soon after this came a trial of the appealed ease before 
Judge Willis, of the county court. 1 The case was decided 
against the Bqnattere, and an app made bo the Dis- 

trict Court with the hope of finally reaching the United 

B Court, but it d. The defendant then 

Baked an appeal to the Supreme Court, but at this time 
w.i- do law In the appeal, and the motion w« 

overruled, and the squatters were beaten. Then- was no 
opportunity to settle land titles in die State of California, 
except through local courts which had no jurisdiction 
the public domain. 

The trial cans : of excitement I 

parties were excited to the utmost degree. The squatters 
had been denied the right of appeal. " They rushed from 
the court i. excited meetings outside, and spread abroad 
the new- that Judge Willis had not only decided against 
them, but had decided that from him there was no appeal. 
Woe to such laws and to such judges ! The law betrays 
is, We will appeal to the Higher Law. The pro 
of the courxs shall not be served. Dr. Robinson was not 
unequal to the emergency. At once he sent out notices 

1 Compare Boyce : Squatter Riot of '50 in Sacramento ; Overland Monthly, Vol. VI. 
(second series.) pp. 239-40. Bancroft's Works, Vol. XXXV, p. 408. Kansas Conflict, pp. 
48-6. 



62 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

calling a mass meeting of squatters and others interested, 
to take place the same evening, August 10. It was Sat- 
urday, and when night came a large crowd of squatters, 
land-owners and idlers had gathered." 1 

In this crowd were found all sorts of people. There 
were the land speculators and land-owners, settlers and 
squatters, and idlers and loafers. Quite a large number 
were disposed to take it all as a huge joke; but Dr. Rob- 
inson was serious enough for the occasion. He came for- 
ward to define his position, asserting that the time for 
moderation was passed, and offering resolutions denounc- 
ing Judge Willis and the law. These resolutions, in spite 
of a few dissenting votes, were carried by a large majority. 
Subsequently, numerous speakers crowded to the platform 
and harangued the public. The next day Dr. Robinson 
drew up a manifesto — an able, bold, and somewhat reck- 
less document — stating clearly the situation and denounc- 
ing the attitude of the courts and the land-owners. The 
following is the manifesto as given by the Doctor's own 
pen: 2 

TO THE PEOPLE OF SACRAMENTO CITY. 

It is well known that a few individuals have seized upon nearly 
all the arable lands in this country, and the following are some of the 
means they have resorted to, in order to retain the property thus 
taken : 

Fwst. They have used brute force and torn down the buildings 
of the settlers, and driven them from their homes by riotous mobs. 

Second. They have used threats of violence, even to the taking 
of life, if the occupant or settler persisted in defending his property, 
and thus extorted from the timid their rightful possessions. 

Third. They have passed or procured the passage of certain rules 

1 Royce, p. 240. 

2 Kansa3 Conflict, pp. 45-6. 



CALIFORNIA a D 

hi the bo egislature of I for the purp their 

affirm, of protecting themselves and removing the settlers 

i the I.iikI thej npy irhether right •.. — thus 

tling the question of title in an assumed l< body, which 

>: : lettled by the rapreme government of 

i th. Under laid legislative regulations, bj them called 
annually ] the settlers with suits, and in mi 

tancefl compelled them t<> abandon their home- for want of 
m to paj - of the courts. M 

, i w itfa 1 1 ■ I hrough t . lied 

court- to the proper tribunal for Anal decision, riz., the Bupn 
of i he i nit d v i it''-. 
Bu1 these hopes were n ;i i i : ge Willi-, bo called, hat 

i hat from his a \ bei s is no appeal. 

And now, inasmuch as the so-called Legislature is not 

filiations ■ 
therefore of no binding force upon the citizens of the Unifa I 
but simply advisory, and inasmuch ailed law ible 

:nl Detainer," I for the purpose affirmed by their 

counsel, namely, to dri ith or without title, i- un 

-titulional. and would he in any St;ite. t of this com- 

aity called settler.-, and other- who are friends of justice and 
humanity, in consideration of the above, have determined to dis 
I all decisions of our courts in land cases and all summonses 
utions by the sheriff, constable, or other I the pri 

county or city, touching this matt. 

as private citizens, a- in the stitution I 

ami hold them accountable accordingly. And. I . . if there 

i- no other appeal from Judge Willis, th. and othei - 

-how of violence to their persons or property, either by the sheriff 
or other person, under color of any execution or writ of restitution, 
based on any judgment or decree of any court in this county, in an 
action to recover possession of land, have deliberately resolved to 
appeal to arms, and protect their sacred rights, if need be, with 
their lives. 

Should such be rendered necessary by the acts of the sheriff or 
others, the settlers will be governed by martial law. All prop 
and the persons of such as do not engage in the contest, will be 
edly regarded and protected by them, whether landholders or 



64 LIFE OF CHARLES KOBIKSON 

otherwise, but the property and lives of those who take the field 
against them will share the fate of war. 

Dr. Robinson's position was bold and his situation some- 
what critical, for he had openly defied the local courts 
and committed himself to defense at arms. It was under- 
stood that the sheriff would take possession of the property 
under dispute on Monday morning, and it was necessary 
for the squatters to act then in defense of their property 
against the courts, if they ever expected to. In a letter 
written to Sara T. D. Lawrence, afterward the wife of 
Dr. Robinson, dated August 12, 1850, the situation is 
clearly and graphically described in the Doctor's own way. 
The writer feels it better to quote from this letter than to 
attempt an elaborate description of the situation : 1 

"August 12, 1850. — Although I have written one letter, yet, as I 
have been called upon by circumstances to remain in town, and as I 
have a little leisure, I will talk with you a little, my dear S. 
Since writing you we have seen much and experienced much of a 
serious and important character, as well as much of excitement. The 
county judge, before whom our cases were brought, decided against 
us, and on Saturday morning declared that from his decision there 
should be no appeal. The squatters immediately collected on the 
ground in dispute, and posted, on large bills, the following : ' OUT- 
RAGE ! ! ! Shall Judge Willis be dictator ? Squatters, and all 
other republicans, are invited to meet on the Levee this evening, to 
hear the details.' It was responded to by both parties, and the specu- 
lators, as aforetime, attempted to talk against time, etc. On the 
passage of a series of resolutions presented by your humble servant, 
there were about three ayes to one nay, although the Transcript 
said they were about equal. Sunday morning I drew up a mani- 
festo — carried it with me to church — paid one dollar for preaching — 
helped them sing — showed it to a lawyer to see if my position was 
correct, legally, and procured the printing of it in handbills and in 



Conflict, pp. 46-8. Royce : Squatter Kiot of '50 in Sacramento ; Overland 
Monthly, Vol. VI, (second series,) pp. 241-2. 



CAI.IHiK.MA A. 65 

[>< r. after presenting it to i private meeting of citizens for their 
approval, which I addressed at -cine length. After ■ long talk for 
the purpose of consoling a gentleman jnsi in from the plain-, and who 
the daj before had buried his wife, whom be loved most tenderly, 

and a few days previous to that had l«>>t hi- son, i thn n myself upon 
my blankets and 'anxiously thought of the morrow.' 

"What will be the result 1 shall I be borne ou< in my position 1 
On whom can I depend! Bow many of those who are squatter! will 

come out if there Is a prospect of a fight ! \\ ill the sheriff take pos- 
Bession, a- he has promised, before 10 o'clock a.m..' How many 

speculators will fight 1 Have I distinctly defined our position in the 
hill? Will the world, the universe, and Cod Bay it IS justl — etc., 

etc., etc. Will you call me rash if I tell you that l took these itepa 
to this point when l could get but twt nun to pledge them- 

selves on paper 10 BUStain me. and many of them, I felt, were timid V 
Such was the ease. 

"This morning I was early on my feet, silently and quietly visit- 
ing my friends, collecting arms, etc. Our manifesto appeared in the 
paper and bills early, ami the whole town i- aroused. Nothing is 
thought or talked of but war. About two hundred men assembled on 
the disputed territory, and most of them sympathized with us. A few, 
however, were spies. We chose our commander, and enrolled such as 
were willing and ready to lay down their lives, il need be, in the 
cause. About fifty names could be obtained. 1 managed, by speeches, 
business, etc., to keep the spectator- and lighters mingled in a mass, 
all unarmed, so as to let no one know* that all were dm n of valor and 
ready to fight. While thus engaged, the mayor appeared and ad- 
dressed us from his saddle — not ordering us to disperse, hut advising 
us to do so. I replied, most respectfully, that we were assembled to 
injure no one, and to assail no one who left us alone. We were on 
our own property, with no hostile intention while unmolested. After 
he left, I with others was appointed a committee to wait upon him at 
his office, and state distinctly our position, etc., so that there could 
be no possibility of mistake. He said he would use his influence as 
an individual to keep anyone from destroying our property, and told 
us the sheriff had just told him that the executions from the court 
had been postponed. We returned, and after reporting, and making 
some further arrangements for another meeting if necessary, we ad- 
journed. I told the mayor we should not remain together if no at- 
tempt was to be made to execute their warrants, but I told him that 
— 5 



06 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

if in the meantime a sheriff or any other person molested a squatter 
we should hold him responsible according to our proclamation. From 
this position we could not be driven, although we knew it to be in 
violation of the regulations of the State. We were prepared to abide 
the result. 

" It is said that a writ is made out for my arrest, as a rebel, etc. 
If so, it will not probably be served at present." 

The conflict was soon precipitated by the sheriff, who 
appeared soon after the squatters had dispersed, removed 
the property and furniture in dispute, and placed a keeper 
in charge. Several squatters were arrested and sent to the 
prison-ship. 1 During the day leading squatters sought to 
escape arrest, and a meeting was held in Dr. Robinson's 
tent at night After a full discussion of the subject, a 
plan of procedure was adopted. All the squatters who 
had pledged themselves to defend their interests were to 
meet early the next morning under an oak tree in the out- 
skirts of tin 1 city, and thence march to the disputed prop- 
erty and retake it. An ex-soldier of the Mexican War by 
the name of Maloney was chosen as military leader. 2 To 
avoid arrest Dr. Robinson and Maloney spent the night 
at the latrer's cabin, six miles outside of the town. Early 
the next morning they rode to the appointed place, but 
much to their surprise found not a solitary squatter. The 
courage of those who had asserted boldly that they would 
defend their rights, seemed to have disappeared. Dr. 
Robinson and Maloney started out to rally their force*, 
and found after a search that some of the loudest in the 
protestation against abuses and the boldest in promises 
were in bed, trembling at the hint of war. It took four or 

1 Bancroft's Works, Vol. XXXV, pp. 408-9. Kansas Conflict, p. 48, et seq. 

2 Compare this and following with Royce : Squatter Riot of '50 ; Overland Monthly, 
Vol. VI, (second series,) p. 242. " 



five hours to urn* 

time by ( laptain Ifalonev bi >rth on 

errand. The soldiers bey the 

me commander or be shot as a penalt; atiou was 

not ei araging. Alter a daj and i night bad I- 

in rigorous work, an armj of onlv fifteen armed and 
equipped men oould be mustered to take the field. ICa- 
, who be I with military pride, d 

Dr. Ro •; was 
armed with i shooter rifle. This bad b 

to him by a gentleman who sympathized with the n 
. and who ht tly arrived across the plains. .V 

"f a very hoi daj . August 1 I, the order 
march, and the little squatter army of fourteen men and 
one commander marched seven abreast down X -■ 
though insigi in number, very warlike in appear- 

ance. They had nol i mrred in 

their own rank-. The house "i" a citizen by the nan 
A. M. Winn, former president of tlio city council, ws 
the line of march, and it appear- that the comma 
Moloney, had a bitter grudge against him. As the little 
army approached (he house, the commander turn 
his horse and said he would order that bom 
»poke the D< m the rank- and denoui 

a proceeding as fatal to the entire squatter movement. 
The commander apparently abandoned his pur] 
when directly 0] the house be turned agai 

said, " We will never have a better time," and was ■ 
to give the order to fire the house. From the ranks of 
the little army Dr. Robinson sprang forward, rifle in hand, 
and. shouted to the foolhardy eommander, " If vou order 



t38 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINS 

that house destroyed, I will blow your brains out! " This 
was a peculiar situation. Here was a private who had 
fifteen minutes before sworn to obey the orders of the com- 
mander, on penalty of being shot, jumping from the ranks 
and threatening to shoot the commander if he did not 
obey the orders of a private 1 . Dr. Robinson was not a 
little disturbed at the commander's apparent lack of judg- 
ment, and especially his lack of comprehension of the 
le involved. It was evident thai Maloney must be 
cheeked or the warfare would bo turned from an attempt 
at die protection of the helpless squatters in their rights 
to an attempt at the wanton destruction of the property 

peaceful citizen-. Kven with the utmost chock upon 

hi? reckless conduct, Maloney apparently disgraced the 
cause by movements lacking in judgment. 

Finally the house and property in controversy were 
reached, and as the keeper placed in charge by the sheriff 
. the squatters took formal possession and re- 
placed the furniture and property in the house where it 
belonged. 1 The Doctor, desiring to get the squad out of 
the city in another direction, advised that they visit a lot 
on I street, where lumber had been deposited upon a 
squatter's claim without the owner's consent. On arriving 
at the lot on I street, it was found that the person who had 
deposited the lumber there had done it only as a matter of 
convenience, and had no designs on the lot; hence there 
was nothing more to be done. The little army soon had 
numerous followers, who joined the procession largely 
through curiosity, some armed with rifles or shotguns, and 
others with revolvers. 

1 Compare Royce: Squatter Riot of '60 in Sacramento ; Overland Monthly, Vol. VI, 
(second eeriee,) p. 242. 



ieh waa te little 

likrK i.. aiir.i- ion bj bo doing. 1 1 

up ! !. wIm-h • iiM-nt of the I 

be turned the bin 

v marched through the principa] hmiimm 

eluding manj of 
worel chart 

i turn jraa made t.. the 
tier ww turned ii 1 i rtfa i ihoul 

raiaed, and the ma; 

on the little Bquattor armj • 
lie the Bquattor army was marching about town 
major and ahei loping here tnd th. 

down the rebellion. No 
attack madN on the little army than Ifalonj 
order to fax and fire Ac won aa 

niavoi-\ crowd RrtEB returned, all tits! in hot ha-te ami I 

oe wai dean d in (rout ol d ; 

- ;i rapid diepenu 
mayor was badly wounded, lod 
auditor, wb ttaok, was killed 

Bquatter also wac lulled in I While 

-till in Line a man Harper p 

up J . and when Robinson Buddenly 

stopped and fin ivcr. the ball i> 

the Doctor's body two inches below irt Dr. Ro 

eon then raised hk ad returned th 

striking the breast-bo and (rjanoing off wit 

out entering tin body. 

'Compare B* -k->. Vol. X\ n1 Royce : Squatter Slot of 50 

In Sacrameir 



70 LIFE OF CHAELES ROBINSON 

When Dr. Robinson returned to consciousness he fonnd 
himself in the street on the ground. Looking about, he 
found that no one was in sight, and he crawled slowly into 
an eating-house near by. At first the in mates were afraid 
to give even the water which he craved. Soon after, some 
physicians appeared, and he was well oared for. The cor- 
oner and the sheriff appeared ; the former asked Dr. Rob- 
inson's name and age, and the latter seemed in such a 
hurry that Robinson smilingly bold him if he could wait 
a little he would be out of his way. lie was in a very 
critical condition at this time, and the pulsation at his 
wrist, having stopped, the physicians caused the sherifi to 
wait until circulation was restored. As tlio slow proces- 
sion moved toward tlie prison-ship bearing the Doctor on 
a cot, Bidewalks, verandas and roofs were thronged with 
people silently watching the proceedings. Others came 
out of the crowd and silently pressed hia hand. On reach- 
ing the prison-ship Dr. Robinson was placed in the fore- 
;le. The only other occupant was a violent, insane 
foreigner who muttered in an unknown tongue, beating 
the sides of the vessel with his head and in other ways 
most of the time. Here the prisoner Avas placed with the 
idea that he would not live long, and that probably a 
burial the next morning would be the only trouble he 
would cause thereafter. Such was Dr. Robinson's critical 
condition that a person leaving Sacramento on the night 
of August 14, the day of the riot, brought the news to 
San Francisco that he was dead, and the report was con- 
veyed to his ]STew England home. The great excitement 
of the news was only allayed when, a fortnight after, a 



7 i 
• inch 

old bu] 

Although the 

0, the 

night* and the pri 

much b< tl of his 

hir- 

in, luit when 

hope* 
of bi« rapid re- 

being 

1 ; . . • while I hr, !\ ing in the 

to the priaon- 

■ mall annv 

bis own 
•o bifl own borne, Whi I iding 

bun and de- 
Donnoi d him in \< ' ■. was 

and punned his 
; speenl 
v [aJoney, killed the 
onej'fl body. 

■ the 
BQjuattera with tb - nento. Th. 

••mod. Lieuten. IfcD 

aUrted for San I » for help. Wild rumors 

and their 



72 LIVE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

sworn vengeance upon the city. But it appears that the 
panic had begun to subside, when it was found that the 
squatters proposed to live up to their manifesto. But main, 
of the speculators urged that with the military Leader of 
the squatters killed and their civil leader badly wounded, 
it was a good time to make an end of all squattorism. 
The newspapers were full of glorious boasting over the re- 
sult, and the little sheriff was commended for his bravery. 
Swelling with pride, he rallied a posse the second day and 
started seven or eight miles in the country to arrest "Old 
Man Allen," as he was called. Allen had taken up a 

claim on the American river, and it appeared that some- 
body wanted the claim <>r had attempted to establish a 
legal right to it. It is stated by some that he was keeping 
a hotel or boarding-house. Allen was oaring for a sick 

wife, when the sheriff surrounded his house with three 
squads. When he came to the door his surrender was de- 
manded. Hi- replied by discharging the contents of a shot- 
gun into fche little Bheriff, who was carried hack a corpse to 
the city. Allen was wounded, and several others were 
wounded and killed in the struggle. His wife died during 
the struggle. 

The news of the sheriffs death caused great excitement 
in the city. Militia companies turned out, and detailed 
patrolling parties passed through the streets to keep them 
clear. But the next morning the steamer returned, bring- 
ing Lieutenant-Governor MJcDougal, and this with other 
events allayed public fear, the excitement soon died out, 
and the people were ashamed that they had been alarmed. 
The squatters continued to meet in the mining districts 



M | iil»\ but 

ni to dr 
I )r. Robinson bolda that • mh droj 

1 1 .(-I saw I 
with :i Item and slulil 

Lhal the 

n-ahip i 

i . • I 

u ill 1 and.' 1 ter th<- tnmsac- 



mind. I !•• waa \ ery much exciti d, and I 

.«! that the kiiliiiL' 

the sheriff, Allen i a mining camp while 

minora were al din i m i . •• I !<• \ <s and <■ 

: with mud and bloo i 

plight he told the b( ri( I and of hia 

-iter with ill- A report n 

minere bad resolved t<» enl uto, rate 

and destroy the town, i • ( uat t«-r v,a- 

disturbed. Thte keeper bad oome to tak Dr. Robintoi 
d word t«. the minora thai he did 
be thought tbia would quiet the nd allaj ! 

tnent Dr. Robinson replied that while he had no 
bad no i I to the min 

the militia, which 

oe from San Francisco to quell the diatnrba led 

in a body upon Dr. Robinson on the prison-ehip. ! h 

1 Bancroft : Work 408 10; and Rojrc* : Squatter Riot of '5 

; Orerland Monthly, Vol. VI, (#econd «erlee,< | 
* Kansas Conflict, pp 



74 LIFE OF CHARLES KOB1NSON 

this visit an officer whispered in the Doctor's ear that he 
and his friends had nothing to fear from the militia, as 
they had investigated the matter and approved the course 
the squatters had taken. Mr. Royee * states that " a tacit 
consent to drop the subject was soon noticeable in the com- 
munity/' and that " there was sullen submission near 
home/' and " a decided sense of common guilt." Dr. Rob- 
inson holds that the reason for this was the firm stand 
taken by the squatters to protect occupants of land until a 
title should be shown, the speculators having finally real- 
ized the justice of the squatters' position, or at least the 
cogency of their argument of force in maintaining it. 

Mr. Royce \vrif<>< somewhat facetiously on this subject, 
lie tries to show the improper attitude of the squatters 
in attacking the institutions of California, but he does not 
question the ability or sincerity of Dr. Robinson as a 
leader of the movement. Referring to a letter which Dr. 
Robinson had written to the Placer Times in defense of 
the position of the squatters, lie ^;iys: 2 

"The writer of the letter in question is very probably no other 
than the distinguished squatter leader, Dr. Charles Robinson him- 
self, a man to whom the movement seems to have ©wed nearly all its 
ability. And when we ^peak of Dr. Robinson, we have to do with no 
insignificant demagogue or unprincipled advocate of wickedness, but 
with a high-minded and conscientious man, who chanced just then to 
be in the Devil's service, but who served the Devil honestly, thought- 
fully, and, so far as he could, dutifully, believing him to be an angel 
of light. This future Free-Soil Governor of Kansas, this cautious, 
clear-headed, and vigorous antislavery champion of the troublous 
days before the war, who has since survived so many bitter quarrels 
with old foes and old friends, to enjoy, now at last, his peaceful age at 

1 Boyce : Squatter Riot of '50 in Sacramento ; Overland Monthly, Vol. VI, (second 
series,) p. 245. 

2 Idem. 



75 

With I 

I thil t i . ..imti y 

M i of the culti- 

icalism of the antishn i 
ohusetts, bo :•• ind it 001 vetkii • I ■'■'■•• d ordinary common- 
place l< gal 1 .! -<► call.-.l higher 
law. Beholds thai Dr. Robinson bad 1 tendency t<> over- 
look S ieh land repudiate 

the higher law for the solu- 
tion 1 In equity. 1 [e continue 

Di . BoUnsofl linn Um iion 

1 ml to hit 1 1 - 1 1 — t in ; ni v in 

raiting fundi to keep the iqiiattei tiou al work. Eh irrotc 

pell .nid spoke well. He wai thor< and Mi motivei 

«.iit of 

tat t he t Kmc 

1 \» ry dangert Ufi man." 

In hie article in th< dMy, where he gives 

the history of fch< in bis history of 

< !alif< ine writing. The 

e histoi Ioal 1 d with fine bite of phi- 
losophy . in many i. 

and statements. Upon the whol aphio picture 

of tin :iia, with an 

apparent studied att< overlook the r ils of 

situation amento tdtude of the 

in defending squatter rights in Sacramento. But it is a 

sparkling philosophy rather than an impartial history. 
It is graphic, reflective, and entertaining. The following 

1 Boyce : Squatter Riot of '50 in Sacramento ; OTerland Monthly, Vol. VI. (second 
•eriee,) p. 237. 



7G LIFE OF CHARLES KOBINSON 

statement by I>r. Robinson Le a fair representation of die 
squatter Bide of the argument : ' 

•• it is plain the only higher law the squatters were after was the 
law of the United States and the decision of a legal tribunal. Thin 
hiw ami decision tin* speculators -aid should not lie had. hence tlie 

lict Mi. Royce says the Supreme Court is a Long way otV. and t«> 
wait for ii- decision would work great hardship to the claimants 
under the grant. But vrherc would be the greater hardship 1 This 
grant eras Bufflciently elastic to cover all northern California, and wrai 
need to enabl men, ^itli quitclaim or other deeds from Cap 

tain Sutter, to levy tribute upon every person of the many thousand 
wlt<> might want t<> settle in tin- country, if tin- claimants could not 
wait for ;i legal adjustment, bo* could the hordes of destitute people 
trail thai were pouring in from the Eastern ^i :» t <■- ? If the title 
should prove valid, th< - would l<>-«- nothing. Even should 

the entire not of eleven naelv populated by thriving 

cities, it would only enhance tin- value of the grant a thousand-fold, 
while, should the land in question i'« v not covered by tin- grant, th" 
cormorants would have robbed everj occupant of hard-earned money, 
be returned. Thus ■< ralid claimant would lose nothing Uy 
waiting rot the courts, even the highest court, while the squattei 
would lose all he might pa] gus title at the hands of ■ bogus 

claimant or speculator." 

So far i the position of the squatters in de- 

fending Bottlers in their rights until titles could be Bottled 
by the courts, there seems t*> !><■ no real objection to their 
course. The denial of the right to appeal t<> the Supreme 
Court ought not t<> have been permitted. The ultimate 
test of all Land titles is in the Supreme Court of the United 
States. If the governmental machinery was not sufficiently 
perfected to allow an immediate decision on the apf>eal, 
that was no concern of the lower courts, and they should 
have decided in favor of the right of appeal. That all 
cases were finally referred to a commission appointed by 

1 Robinson : Kamaa Conflict, p. 60. 



r settlement, tl the ^pmttert 

.ml jmrjHi^ 
!<-*-ri|>» 

the -up: 

the 
iim. I!- I>u! 

d onleei 

od fth 

!it!«- in 
.iim. Holding strictly to I he 

■Imliiiir the disputed territory, A- 

count of hi* iit hi in 

r in 
I settle! was 

title, bat 
d him in 
ttxmt ill. B 
U blamed for I B - framl- 

i those 
naV d i - Den of 

e S : ■ Co 
S 



78 LIFE OF CKAKLES ROBINSON 

by Governor Micheltorena, and the other a list of sub^ 
grants given by the Governor to Sutter's men on the lat- 
ter^ recommendation. On the whole, it may fairly be said 
that although the squatters and settlers had some just 
grounds of complaint in this Sacramento affair, yet the 
general tendency of the California squatters to ignore the 
Mexican land titles led to a vast deal of trouble. Squat- 
terism, as it spread over the State, became a synonym of 
injustice, strife, and waste of property. 

The character of Dr. Robinson comes out clearly through 
the whole struggle. He was convinced that he was right, 
and that he was defending the oppressed, or those who 
were deprived of their rights. Throughout his life he 
never appeared to better advantage than when attempting 
to defend the helpless or in fighting single-handed open 
forms of injustice or oppression. In this movement he 
showed himself clear-headed, conscientious, shrewd and 
skillful by the manner in which he routed the forces of the 
speculators and landholders, who had all the odds in their 
favor. When we remember the critical condition he occu- 
pied before the law, his subsequent history in California 
is little less than marvelous. 

When Dr. Robinson was sufficiently recovered, he was 
brought before a local magistrate and formally committed 
on the charge of murder and other crimes. 1 Soon after, 
the District Court met at Sacramento; the grand jury 
found four true bills against him, — one for murder, one 
for conspiracy, and two for assault with intent to kill. 
Dr. Robinson, with two other prisoners, was soon taken 

1 For the remaining incidents of the Sacramento troubles, see The Kansas Conflict 
pp. 61-65. See also Bancroft : Works, Vol. XXXV, p. 410. 






(A . . :\ A ADVENTURES 79 

into court to plead to the indictment. All three were again 
remanded to prison to await trial. 

But other and more important events were crowding 
which tended to draw public attention away from the op- 
erations of the courts. The time was approaching for the 
election of members of the State Legislature, and the name 
of Dr. Robinson was proposed by the squatter- and miners 
as that of a candidate for a seat in this body. At their 
request a new campaign document in the form of a mani- 
festo was written by Dr. Robinson. In this he boldly 
charged the speculators with murder in the first degree, 
and declared that the squatters had done nothing more 
than defend their natural and constitutional rights. 
The manifesto was pinnted in the form of a poster and 
distributed throughout the country, and, although not a 
speech was made in the entire canvas^, the poster did its 
work, and returned a majority in favor of Dr. Robinson 
for the Legislature. The papers denounced the manifesto, 
but the people voted in favor of their hero now in a 
prison-ship under indictment for murder by the grand 
jury, and awaiting trial. Soon after the election the 
prisoner was admitted to bail, and, as editor of the "Set- 
tlers' and Miners' Tribune" entered vigorously upon the 
work of defending the cause he had espoused. He was 
thus employed until he took his seat in the Legislature, 
wdiich met in San Jose, in 1851. 

The character of Dr. Robinsou is clearly shown in his 
attitude at this time on the slavery question, which affords 
a good illustration of the fact that at all times he worked 
from conviction as to what was right under the circum- 
stances. While he was in prison, one of the attorneys, 



80 LIFE OF CHABLES BOBINSON 

Mr. Tweed, appointed to defend the squatters, came to him 
and advocated the division of California into two States, — 
the southern portion to be a slave State. He desired the 
opinion of his client on the subject. Dr. Kobinson an- 
swered that he was opposed to slavery from conviction, 
and could not, on account of its injustice, favor its exten- 
sion. When Mr. Tweed learned the attitude of Dr. Kob- 
inson on the slavery question he advised the Doctor not to 
consent to run for the Legislature, because it might preju- 
dice his case now pending before the courts. The insight 
of the prisoner easily discerned that his counsel opposed 
his candidacy simply because he was opposed to slavery. 
The Doctor therefore assured him that if the people chose 
to vote for him he would not interfere, and if the courts 
chose to hang him because the people voted for him they 
could do so. Again, in the Legislature the slavery ques- 
tion came to the front. General Fremont had been elected 
for the short term of the Senate, which was about to ex- 
pire. In his place were nominated, by the Whigs, T. 
Butler King, of Georgia; and by the Democrats, Judge 
Heydenfelt, of Alabama, — both favoring the division of 
California and the extension of slavery. Fremont was 
opposed to the division and to the extension of slavery, 
and accordingly Dr. Kobinson and some twelve or fifteen 
others voted for Fremont, — who, by the way, was the pro- 
prietor of a large Mexican land grant, — and thus de- 
feated the election for that session. Subsequently, in the 
next session, the antislavery sentiment was sufficiently 
strong to elect an antislavery man, a Mr. Weller, from 
Ohio, which effectually disposed of the matter. In voting 
thus on the slavery question, Dr. Kobinson of course 



CALIFORNIA AOVEN TUBES 81 

pleased the antislavery squatters and displeased those of 
proslavery views. 

At this session of the Legislature a law was passed 
which quieted the legal proceedings in land controversies, 
and referred all cases to proper tribunals for decision. 
While Dr. Robinson was absent from the Legislature 
through sickness, a unanimous vote of both houses in- 
structed the prosecuting attorney to enter nolle pros, in 
the case of The State vs. Robinson, but the acting Gov- 
ernor, McDougal, who had fled to San Francisco at the 
sound of war, vetoed the bill. The squatter cases of Sac- 
ramento were by a change of venue taken to Benicia, but 
after the close of the session of the Legislature the pris- 
oners were discharged on account of no prosecution. 
" Nolle pros, was entered, and the hero was free." Dr. 
Robinson was exonerated by the people of Sacramento 
valley, who elected him to the Legislature. Also, he was 
exonerated by the Legislature representing the whole State 
of California, and by the District Court, which, dismissed 
his case. 

The remainder of Dr. Robinson's stay in California was 
rather uneventful. As soon as he was thoroughly recov- 
ered from the chills and fever which had attacked him, he 
took a steamer for Boston by way of the Isthmus. He 
sailed on the 3d day of July, 1851, and on the 5th they 
were wrecked on the coast of Mexico, about eighty miles 
below San Diego. They had struck the rocks about one- 
fourth of a mile from shore, at three o'clock in the morn- 
ing. On the coast arose hills between which ran a little 
dry ravine, each, side of this ravine being overshadowed 
by perpendicular rocks eighty feet high. This small ra- 



82 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

vine proved their salvation. In the course of the day they 
got the small boats off for the shore, conveying all the 
passengers safely to land before the ship finally sank. 
They knew not their location, however, and remained on 
this inhospitable shore for two weeks without a clue to 
their whereabouts. 

A large amount of gold dust was on board the ship. 
This was brought on shore, where it was carefully guarded 
by forty men chosen by the company for this purpose. 
The men were under the command of Captain Day, with 
Dr. Robinson second, and were divided into relays of ten 
each, who watched the treasure day and night. One day, 
after they had been watching their treasure on land for 
two weeks, at the same time eagerly scanning the sea for 
a sail or scouring the country for information, a Mexican 
suddenly appeared from the interior, and informed them 
of their location. Ten persons went to San Diego to get a 
boat to come that way to pick them up. It was necessary 
for them to walk a considerable distance north to take the 
boat, as it could not come near shore at that place. They 
were finally obliged to take a schooner instead of a 
steamer, and on account of the slow sailing of the former 
they were delayed. While on their way to the Isthmus 
they had to stop at Acapuico to see the consul about sal- 
vage papers to convey to the insurance companies. 
Through misinformation as to the time of the sailing 
of the steamer, Dr. Robinson was left in an office in Aca- 
puico, and was obliged to take a slow boat for the Isthmus. 
Consequently he arrived too late to take the fortnightly 
steamer for 'New York. The two weeks of heat and in- 
clement weather brought on the chills and fever again. 
Finally he sailed for ~Rew York, stopping at Havana, 



CALIFORNIA ADVENTURES 83 

where lie arrived on the morning of the execution of Gen- 
eral Lopez. He reached New York in time to file his 
papers respecting the insurance case which had been given 
into his charge. It was the 9th of September, when, after 
various delays, he received a joyful welcome in his New 
England home at Fitchburg, where he remained until 
June 28th, 1854. On that day he started for Kansas, 
where so many stirring scenes were about to be enacted. 
It is remarkable that Dr. Robinson returned from 
California much improved in health. The variety of posi- 
tions that he had held while in California, — physician, 
editor, restaurant-keeper, leader of a squatter rebellion, a 
member of the California Legislature, — seemed to indi- 
cate that in the future he would have a wider sphere than 
that of practicing medicine in a country town. After his 
return from California his friends, among whom was 
Mr. Benjamin Snow, father of Chancellor Snow, famous 
in Kansas as a lecturer, scientist, and head of the Kansas 
State University, urged him to edit a paper. At their 
earnest request he took charge of the Fitchburg News. 
This he conducted with great vigor for a period of two 
years. On the other hand, his great success as a practicing 
physician had led other friends to urge him not to abandon 
his practice. The result was that in attempting to fill both 
places of usefulness, he was soon carrying on an extended 
practice and editing a paper at the same time. Perhaps 
this was an injudicious thing for a man to do who had 
deemed it necessary to go to California for his health. 
Be that as it may, as editor of the Fitchburg News he 
developed a pungent and virile style, which served him 
well in his after life in the Kansas conflict. 



^ 



84 LIFE OF CHAKLES BOBINSON 

In the mean time, six years of watchful care over the 
health of Miss Lawrence, prior to the departure of Dr. 
Robinson to the Pacific coast, had brought about an en- 
during friendship between the two, and the wedding-day 
was set about thirty days after Dr. Robinson started west, 
an event which postponed the marriage for about two and 
one-half years. But on his return from California he was 
married to the cultivated and gifted daughter of Myron 
A. Lawrence, on the 30th of October, 1851. After a trip to 
Philadelphia and a visit home, they settled permanently 
in Fitchburg. 

Sara T. D. Lawrence 1 proved a worthy companion to 
Dr. Robinson, and especially in the Kansas struggle by 
her excellent judgment and ready pen did valiant service 
for the cause of freedom. Keen in observation, courageous 
in all things, she could stand at ber husband's side in a 
determined struggle for the right. Mrs. Robinson was 
educated at the Belchertown Classical School and at the 
~New Salem Academy, besides having received private in- 
struction from a lady of fine accomplishments. Mrs. Rob- 
inson was well versed in Latin and modern languages and 
belles-lettres. Her true courage and faithfulness 1 bave 
placed her name among those of the women who made 
Kansas. 

Dr. Robinson was aided in the newspaper office by 
Josiah Trask, a youth of fifteen years, son of Rev. George 
Trask of anti-tobacco fame. Young Trask lost his life 
in the Quantrell raid at Lawrence, in 1863. Often when 
Dr. Robinson was absorbed in medical affairs Trask would 
run to him crying for more copy. " More copy, I must 
have more copy ! " became a household phrase with the 

1 See Appendix A, note (/). 



CALIFORNIA ADVENTURES 85 

Doctor, and frequently rang in his ears when his mind 
was centered on some medical case. Not infrequently, 
when Dr. Robinson was out on a long ride, Mrs. Robinson 
would appear in such an emergency, with an article al- 
ready prepared for Trask's rollicking call under the win- 
dow, " More copy, I must have more copy I" 1 

While Dr. Robinson was practicing medicine in Fitch- 
burg and editing a newspaper at the same time, the slav- 
ery agitation was attracting great notice throughout the 
North, especially in New England. The passage of the 
Kansas-Nebraska Bill threw the Territory of Kansas open 
to settlement, and the North and South vied with each 
other in sending emigrants into the new Territory for 
occupation under the law of " squatter sovereignty." The 
Emigrant Aid Company of New England was formed, 
and meetings were held at different places to agitate the 
question of colonizing the new Territory with the friends 
of freedom, and especially to collect money and recruits 
for settlement there. One day one of the Chapman Hall 
meetings in Boston was addressed by Eli Thayer, who at 
the close of the meeting asked if any present would be 
willing to go to Kansas. Charles Robinson walked up and 
signed his name to the paper. After the meeting, Mr. 
Thayer, who had noticed his quiet though self-reliant bear- 
ing, asked if he were the Charles Robinson who had gone 
to California. His reply being in the affirmative, Mr. 
Thayer asked if he would be willing to go to Kansas to 
live. 

"Yes," was the reply. 

" Would your wife be willing to go ? " 

1 See Appendix A, noie (g). 



^ 



86 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

" I have no doubt of it," replied Kobinson. 

" Well, then/' continued Thayer, " will you come down 
to Boston again to-morrow and meet the directors of the 
Emigrant Aid Company?" 

The early train brought Dr. Eobinson to Boston. The 
result of the conference was that Dr. Eobinson agreed to 
leave Boston on the 28th of June to make his future home 
in Kansas. He accordingly made hurried preparations 
to close out his practice and arrange his business affairs 
for the new life. Subsequently he took charge of the 
affairs of the Emigrant Aid Company in connection with 
Charles H. Branscomb, of Holyoke, Massachusetts, and 
Samuel C. Pomeroy, of Southampton, Massachusetts, 
financial agent. 



THE WAGER OF BATTLE 87 



CHAPTEK III. 

THE WAGER OF BATTLE. 

The Kansas conflict is one of the most remarkable facts 
of American history, from the Revolutionary War to the 
present time. The great parties of the nation had failed to 
agree concerning political sovereignty and the great domes- 
tic institution — slavery. The nation was rapidly dividing 
into two great parties, each occupying separate sections of 
national territory and having different industrial interests. 
Opinions regarding legislation and justice were widely di- 
vergent in the two sections, and men were wedded to sec- 
tional interests rather than to national honor. Even from 
the adoption of the Federal Constitution in 1789 there had 
hung a great cloud over the American Republic as a men- 
ace to free institutions. Men who boasted of freedom and 
liberty and wa^ed eloquent over the blessings of free insti- 
tutions, held a large number of human beings in servitude. 
The difficulty of regulating domestic institutions by gen- 
eral laws was soon evident, involving as it did the relation 
of Federal to State government. In the early period of 
national life men were too busy with the affairs pertaining 
to the development of the nation to pay much attention to 
the question of slavery. But there came a time when agi- 
tation, slight and almost unnoticed at first, finally stirred 
widespread enthusiasm for the cause of the enslaved. A 
little cloud no larger than a man's hand appeared above 
the horizon, and gradually spread over the sky the black 



88 LIFE OF CHAKLES EOBIl^SON 

and threatening appearances of war. Step by step the 
slave-power was encroaching upon the national life and 
threatening to rule or ruin the whole country. The na- 
tional legislators met the determination to spread the do- 
mestic institution of slavery over the entire nation with 
compromise after compromise, they seeking to avoid the 
definitive decision of a great moral question. They put off 
its settlement until it became a great political question, 
shaking the nation to its very center. Failing finally to 
settle this question, the legislators thrust it upon the people. 
They staked out a dueling-ground in the far West, where 
the people were to settle a great national question in their 
own way. It was, indeed, one of the most remarkable in- 
stances on record, of the shifting of a great national ques- 
tion upon a local community. " The field of battle was 
thus removed from the halls of Congress to the plains of 
Kansas." * But the nation did not escape so easily ; for 
the attempt to transfer the responsibility to the plains of 
Kansas caused an agitation that eventually precipitated 
the whole nation in a great struggle, and dearly did the 
nation pay for its evasion of the question. 

The slavery question ought to have been settled with the 
adoption of the Federal Constitution; and one may well 
consider with surprise the fact that colonies struggling for 
their own freedom against oppression could have perpet- 
uated domestic slavery. But when it is considered how 
nearly we came to not having any constitution at all, and 
that the formation of the Federal Constitution was at best 
the compromise of all interests, it is easy to see how essen- 
tial it was to compromise on the slavery question in order 

1 Robinson : The Kansas Conflict, p. 6. 



THE WAGEB OF BATTLE 89 

that the Union might exist, even without being firmly estab- 
lished. But there were those who saw that the question 
deferred must be settled at some future time. A republi- 
can government could not long exist, professing freedom 
and equality, while it kept millions of human beings in 
slavery. The progress of civilization could not tolerate 
such an inconsistency. 

The Missouri Compromise sought to establish a perma- 
nent settlement of the difficulty by division of the terri- 
tory, thus recognizing the justice of the claims made by 
the slave-power. The bill of 1850 had a tendency to dis- 
turb rather than to settle the question. It was a partial 
repeal of the Compromise act and against its spirit. With- 
out doubt Henry Clay, the author of the act of 1850, was 
sincere in his efforts to settle peacefully a great national 
difficulty. After the passage of this act, it seemed that for 
a few years at least, contention would cease. While the 
workings of the fugitive-slave clause of the Compromise 
were producing some agitation, the real struggle would 
probably have been deferred for twenty years had it not 
been for the passage of the Kansas-ISfebraska Act, the 
author and chief defender of which was Stephen A, Doug- 
las. But this act, which repealed the Missouri Compro- 
mise and sounded the death-knell of the Fugitive Slave 
Act, left the country open to the extension of slavery 
throughout the national territory. Such a receding from 
the position taken by both the opponents and the advocates 
of slavery since the constitutional period, was an instance 
of temporizing uncommon to a self-governed people. 

With the adoption of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill the 
period of temporizing came to an end ; the era of compro- 



90 LIFE OF CHASLES EOBINSON 

mise was past. The concentration of a great national 
struggle in a single small Territory, brought the strife to 
a focus and made bloodshed and war inevitable. The 
Kansas-Nebraska Bill turned the intellectual struggle for 
supremacy in Congress into a struggle of physical strength, 
and the Territory was thrown open to the possession of 
opposing forces. These forces met each other face to face, 
and in that struggle for possession, war was initiated. The 
meaning of the bill was clear, for it threw open a broad ex- 
panse of national territory to the extension of slavery. 
Referring to the Territory of Kansas, it finally says : 

" The same is hereby erected into a temporary government by 
the name of the Territory of Kansas, and when admitted as a State 
or States, the said Territory, or any portion of the same, shall be 
received into the Union with or without slavery, as their constitution 
may prescribe at the time of their admission. . . . That the Con- 
stitution, and all laws of the United States which are not locally 
applicable, shall have the same force and effect within the said 
Territory of Kansas as elsewhere within the United States, except the 
eighth section of the act preparatory to the admission of Missouri 
into the Union, approved March sixth, 1820, which, being inconsistent 
with the principles of non-intervention by Congress with slavery in 
the States and Territories, as recognized by the legislature of 1850, 
commonly called the Compromise measure, is hereby declared inopera- 
tive and void; it being the true intent and meaning of the act not 
to legislate slavery into any Territory or State, nor to exclude it 
therefrom, but to leave the people thereof perfectly free to form and 
regulate their domestic institutions in their own way, subject only 
to the Constitution of the United States: Provided, That nothing 
herein contained shall be construed to revive or put in force any law 
or regulation which may have existed prior to the 6th of March, 1820, 
either protecting, establishing, prohibiting, or abolishing slavery." 

The introduction of this bill by Douglas precipitated 
one of the most noted parliamentary struggles in the his- 
tory of the nation. On one side was Douglas, the most 



THE WAGER OF BATTLE 91 

powerful debater in Congress, followed by a strong sup- 
port of alert men. On the other side were Chase, Sumner, 
Giddings, Seward, and Wade, with others zealous in the 
support of their leaders. The lines of battle were close- 
drawn, and the struggle prolonged and intense. 

When the bill was finally passed, the boom of the cannon 
and the shouts of Southern sympathizers told of its suc- 
cess; while on the other side, gloom and apprehension 
hung like clouds over all. The few giants who had stood 
for justice and for a stay of the slave-power in its triumph- 
ant march acknowledged the defeat and expressed their 
feelings in a cry of despair. 

Seward said, May 25th, 1854: 

" The sun has set for the last time upon the guaranteed and cer- 
tain liberties of all unsettled and unorganized portions of the Ameri- 
can continent that lie within the jurisdiction of the United States. 
To-morrow's sun will rise in dim eclipse over them. How long that 
obscuration shall last is known only to the Power that directs and 
controls all human events/"' 

Senator B. F. Wade said: 

" The humiliation of the North is complete and overwhelming. 
. . . I know full well that no words of mine can save the country 
from this impending dishonor, this meditated wrong which is big with 
danger to the good neighborhood of the different sections of the 
country, if not the stability of the Union itself." 

Salmon P. Chase, in his speech in the Senate, May 25th, 
1854, said: 

" This bill doubtless paves the way for the approach of new, 
alarming, and perhaps fatal dangers to our country. It is the part 
of freemen and lovers of freedom to stand upon their guard and pre- 
pare for the worst events. It is because this bill puts in peril great 
and precious interests, reverses the ancient and settled policy of the 
Government, and breaks down a great safeguard of liberty, that I feel 



_ 



92 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

myself constrained to resist it firmly and persistently, though without 
avail." 

Prior to the passage of the act in the House of Kepre- 
sentatives, May 16, 1854, Hon. Joshua K. Giddings, of 
Ohio, said: 

"Mr. Chairman — Who does not know that the Southern and 
servile presses are already proclaiming that when this bill shall have 
been passed, slavery shall next be admitted into Minnesota. Washing- 
ton, and Oregon? ... To surrender this vast territory will ex- 
clude free men from it; for, as I have said, free laborers, bred up 
with feelings of self-respect, cannot, and will not, mingle with slaves. 
For these reasons it is most obvious that the character of the States 
to be carved out of this territory will be determined by that of the 
government now to be established. If the territory be settled by 
slaveholders, the States will of course be slaveholding States." 

He might have added, if the territory be settled by 

antislavery people, the States of course will be antislavery, 

— a sequel to the Douglas bill which had not yet dawned in 

prospect upon the people. Earlier than this statement of 

Giddings, on February 21, 1854, Sumner had stated in 

the United States Senate that — 

" It is clear beyond dispute that by the overthrow of this prohi- 
bition, slavery will be quickened and slaves themselves be multiplied ; 
while new room and verge will be secured for the gloomy operations 
of the slave law, under which free labor will group, and a vast terri- 
tory be smitten with sterility. Sir, a blade of grass would not grow 
where the horse of Attila had trod; nor can any true prosperity 
spring up in the footprints of a slave. . . . You are asked to 
destroy a safeguard of freedom, consecrated by solemn compact under 
which the country is reposing in the security of peace, and thus con- 
firm the supremacy of slavery." 

Although these chief opponents to the Douglas bill saw 
with prophetic eyes that a great national issue was to be 
settled possibly at the expense of union and liberty, they 



THE WAGER OF BATTLE 93 

saw in the situation signs of no hope. They saw nothing 
but an unavoidable conflict, which might end in humilia- 
tion and defeat. A few papers like the New York Tribune 
proclaimed the situation. January 6, 1854, Mr. Greeley 
says : 

" The Thirty-first Congress inaugurated the era of submissions to 
slavery. Since then everything has gone on swimmingly in this line. 
Not only was the slavery question compromised, but the character and 
reputation and principles of hundreds of our public men were com- 
promised by the same operation. . . . Freedom's battle was 
fought and lost in 1850, and the cowards and traitors have all run 
to the winning side. 

In the issue of March 14, 1854, the same paper asserts: 

" We as a nation are ruled by the black power. It is composed of 
tyrants. See, then, how the North is always beaten. The black power 
is a unit. It is a steady, never-failing force. It is a real power. 
Thus far it has been the only unvarying power of the country, for it 
never surrenders and never wavers. It has always governed, and 



In the issue of May 24, of the same year, Mr. Greeley 
hints strongly of the necessity of a bloody contest. He 

says : 

" The revolution is accomplished and slavery is king ! How long 
shall this monarch reign? This is now the question for the Northern 
people to answer. Their representatives have crowned the new poten- 
tate, and the people alone can depose him. If we were only a few 
steps further advanced in the drama of reaction, he could only be 
hurled from his seat through a bloody contest." 

Subsequently, after the passage of the famous Douglas 
bill, in the issue of June 24, 1854, Mr. Greeley says: 

"The territory which one short year ago was unanimously con- 
sidered by all, North and South, as sacredly secured by irrepealable 
law to freedom forever, has been foully betrayed by traitor hearts 
and traitor voices, and surrendered to slavery." 







94 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

Mr. Theodore Parker, in one of his most striking ad- 
dresses, asserted with a sort of despair that — 

"There is not one spot of free soil from Nootka Sound to 
Key West. In no part of the country is there freedom. The Supreme 
Court is a slave court, the Senate is a slave Senate, the Senators are 
overseers, Mr. Douglas is a great overseer, and Mr. Everett a little 
overseer. The press is generally the friend of slavery." 

Such were the cries of defeat, of humiliation, such the 
gloomy forebodings that came from the leaders of liberty. 
People of the North were oppressed with indignation and 
gloom. But few rajs of light were observable anywhere 
on the whole horizon. There was a sentiment arising 
favoring the settlement of Kansas with antislavery people 
who should build up a free State. Mr. Sumner had re- 
marked at the time of the passage of the bill : " Thus it 
puts freedom and slavery face to face and bids them grap- 
ple. Who can doubt the result ? " 

Out of the general despair of Seward's speech came one 

saving clause : 

" Come on, then, gentlemen of the slave States : since there is no 
escaping your challenge, I accept it in behalf of freedom. We will 
engage in competition for the virgin soil of Kansas, and God give 
the victory to the side that is stronger in numbers as it is in right." 

Mr. Seward, however, had no idea as yet of the sudden- 
ness with which war would be inaugurated for the settle- 
ment of the great question. He could not free himself 
from his sense of oppression at the defeat which the party 
of freedom had just suffered. Mr. Sumner, at the time of 
the passage of the Douglas Bill, expresses a ray of hope : 

" In a Christian land and in an age of civilization, a time-honored 
statute of freedom is struck down; opening the way to all the count- 
less woes and wrongs of human bondage. Among the crimes of history 



THE WAGES OF BATTLE 95 

another is about to be recorded, which no tear? can blot out, and 
which, in better days, will be read with universal shame. . . . 
Standing at the very grave of freedom in Kansas and Nebraska, I 
lift myself to the vision of that happy resurrection by which freedom 
will be secured hereafter, not only in these Territories but every- 
where under the National Government." 

Evidently Mr. Sumner was thinking of the long, slow 
constitutional struggle which in the course of human event? 
would cause freedom and justice to triumph. He evidently 
had no conception of the sharp physical struggle, the civil 

i that was so soon to follow. 

The leaders of the antislavery forces in Congress had 
only to look to the rising storm in the Xorth to receive 
encouragement and support. Had they been observant the 
country would have been spared their fears for the future ; 
though it would, to be sure, have been deprived of much of 
their eloquence. It was but natural for them to feel that, 
having lost the battle in Congress, they had lost it to the 
whole country forever, and that the slave-power had won 
and was to remain dominant. But quick recovery from the 
humiliation of defeat brought them more hopeful views of 
the situation. Throughout the entire Xorth agitation had 
begun vigorously, even before the passage of the Kansas- 
Xebraska Bill, and was continued with increased vigor 
after its passage. The Whig and Democratic parties be- 
gan to disintegrate ; old traditions were giving way to new 
views of liberty, and public sentiment was rapidly crystal- 
lizing around a new force, a common sentiment of freedom. 

It would seem that the "Appeal of the Independent 
Democrats in Congress to the People of the United States " 
against the Kansas-Xebraska Bill was responded to with 
an unexpected zeal by the people. This ably written ad- 



96 LIFE OF CHARLES KOBINSON 

dress is strong in the bitterness of the occasion. It ar- 
raigns the bill "as a gross violation of a sacred pledge ; 
as a criminal betrayal of precious rights ; as part and par- 
cel of one atrocious plot to exclude f roni a vast unoccupied 
region, immigrants from the Old World and free laborers 
from our own States, and convert it into a dreary region of 
despotism inhabited by masters and servants." Referring 
then to the Missouri Compromise as an acknowledged part 
of the law of the land, the address expresses its disapproval 
of the proposal to annul the law. " Language fails to ex- 
press the sentiments of indignation and abhorrence/' which 
are aroused by the Kansas-Nebraska Act. " Shall a plot," 
reads the address, " against humanity and decency so mon- 
strous and so dangerous to the interests of liberty through- 
out the world be permitted to succeed ? We appeal to the 
people. . . . Let all protest earnestly and emphatically, 
by correspondence, through the press, by memorials, by 
resolutions of public meetings and legislative bodies, and 
in whatever other mode may seem expedient against this 
enormous crime." This important document was only ex- 
ceeded in brilliancy and strength by the speech of Douglas, 
" The Little Giant," in favor of the bill. While the latter 
carried with it the majority vote of Congress, the response 
to the former in the voice of the people triumphed in the 
end, and forever settled the slavery question in the United 
States. 

The people spoke through the press, ably led by Greeley 
of the Neiv York Tribune; Bryant and Bigelow of the 
Evening Post; Raymond of the Times; Webb of the 
Courier and Enquirer; Bowles of the Springfield Republi- 
can; Thurlow Weed of the Albany Journal ; Schouler of 



THE WAGER OF BATTLE 97 

the Cincinnati Gazette; and followed by the Wlaig press 
of the country and many Democratic papers in the North. 

Following immediately were public meetings of protest, 
beginning at New York and extending to nearly every city 
and town throughout the Northern States. The Legisla- 
tures of Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York 
and Wisconsin, then in session, each passed resolutions pro- 
testing against the bill. Seward began to be hopeful, and 
wrote : " The storm that is rising is such a one as this 
country has never seen." But in the face of the storm the 
bill was passed, and signed by the President May 30, 1854. 

The battle of the giants in Congress was over, and 
Douglas had won, but in winning, as Rhodes says, " it must 
be adjudged that Douglas hastened the struggle; he pre- 
cipitated the Civil War." It was stated by Mr. Greeley 
in the Tribune of May 17, that " Pierce and Douglas have 
made more abolitionists in three months than Garrison and 
Phillips could have made in a ha If -century." But the 
agitation went on ; the bill was denounced by the press, 
from the pulpit, by legislatures, and from the platforms of 
public meetings. Not only was the Kansas-Nebraska Act 
condemned, but all of its supporters with it, including 
Douglas, Pierce, and the administration. Douglas stated 
subsequently that he could travel " from Boston to Chicago 
by the light of his own effigies." From this time on the 
influence of Douglas began to decline, although his genius 
and intellect were not the less bright. 

The North continued to protest in every way against the 
Kansas-Nebraska and the Fugitive Slave acts. Not only 
by the expressions of public sentiment from the platform, 
press and pulpit, but in legislative halls was the opposition 



98 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

manifest. In many of these last, resolutions for liberty 
were passed. The elections in the North showed very 
clearly how the people were thinking, as nearly all the leg- 
islators chosen were antislavery in sentiment. The "un- 
derground railroad " was also a protest against the en- 
croachments of slavery and the domination of the Southern 
States, which with others demonstrated the fearful earnest- 
ness of the people of the North. 

On the other hand, the people of the South rejoiced at 
the passage of the bill, and at what they seemed to under- 
stand as the complete triumph of their cause. Alexander 
Stephens, writing in 1860, said that " Never was an act 
of Congress so generally and so unanimously hailed with 
delight at the South." With few exceptions, those who 
were advocates of this measure little dreamed that its pas- 
sage would be the herald of the death of slavery. A few, 
however, with prophetic eye, were not sanguine as to the 
future results of the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. 

If there had been any doubt as to the meaning of the 
Compromise Act of 1850, there could be no misunder- 
standing as to the significance of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. 
The question as to whether slavery should exist within a 
given Territory was to be left to the people of that Terri- 
tory. The national powers having failed to deal with the 
real question, it was henceforth to be left for decision to a 
local struggle of the people. That was the program, and 
the people of both sections were quick to see and take ad- 
vantage of the situation. " It was at once urged by the 
press and by the platform," says Rhodes, " that an effort 
should be made to have Kansas enter the Union as a free 
State, and a systematic movement was begun with this end 



THE WAGER OF BATTLE 99 

Everywhere there was a feeling among anti- 
slavery people that the cause of freedom was at stake, and 
that an effort must be made to save Kansas from the blight 
of slavery. Everywhere in the South there was a feeling 
that efforts must be put forth to establish and perpetuate 
slavery in Kansas. Thus it was that two hostile powers 
within the nation directed their eyes toward a single point, 
— a bit of uninhabited and rolling prairie, — and sent their 
cohorts forward to the national dueling-ground where a 
duel to settle national honors was to take place, — a duel 
without rules or code of arms, — a duel without pretense of 
fairness in choice of place, occasion, weapons, or methods 
of warfare. The people of Missouri and the South had 
resolved that the Yankees could settle in Nebraska, but 
should not enter Kansas, as it by its position was their 
rightful possession. Many people in the North, although 
they recognized that the odds were greatly against such an 
outcome, nevertheless believed that Kansas would event- 
ually be settled by a sufficient number of free people to 
make it a free State. This was a faint ray of hope shining 
through the gloom of despair, and people saw it and cher- 
ished it. 

The people of New England and the North were thor- 
oughly aroused, and started emigration to Kansas even be- 
fore the final passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, in- 
tending, as was hinted by Mr. Seward, to defeat slavery 
by numbers ; but the accomplishment of this end was beset 
with difficulties not contemplated by the law-abiding people 
of the older States. They knew not the deeds that would 
be perpetrated in the name of the rights of citizens for or 
against liberty. While there was a general movement 
LcfC. 



100 LIFE OF CHARLES EOBINSON 

toward Kansas, the special agency for peopling the Terri- 
tory with Free-State men, and one which was the center 
of the organized effort of the ISTorth, was the ISTew England 
Emigrant Aid Company. 

While many people were aronsed to the need of peopling 
Kansas by ^Northern immigration, Mr. Eli Thayer may he 
said to have been the originator of the idea of organization 
for the purpose of hurrying on emigrants to settle in Kan- 
sas and establish a free State by actual possession of the 
soil. After a careful consideration of the question, and 
the manner in which Northern people were to settle in 
Kansas, he expresses himself as follows : 

" After much and very careful study, I concluded that if this work 
could be done at all, it must be done by an entirely new organiza- 
tion, depending for success upon methods never before applied. This 
was an organized emigration, guided and guarded by a responsible 
business company, whose capital should precede the emigrants, and 
prepare the way for them by such investments as should be best 
calculated to secure their comfort and protection. This emigration 
must also be of a kind before unknown, since it must in this case 
be self-sacrificing and voluntary, whereas all historical migrations 
had been either forced or self-seeking. To present this new method 
of bringing two hostile civilizations face to face upon the disputed 
prairies of Kansas in such a way as to unite in its support the entire 
Northern people of whatever parties, was the work next to be done. 
On this appeal must depend the future of our country. Then arose 
the important question, ' Was it possible to create such an agency 
to save Kansas ? ' I believed the time for such a noble and heroic 
development had come ; but could hope be inspired, and the pulsations 
of life be started beneath the ribs of death? The projected plan 
would call upon men to risk life and property in establishing freedom 
in Kansas. They would be called to pass over millions of acres of 
better land than any in the disputed Territory was supposed to be, 
land in communities where peace and plenty were assured, to meet 
the revolver and the bowie-knife defending slavery and assailing 
freedom. Could such men be found, they would certainly prove them- 



THE WAGEK OF BATTLE 101 

selves to be the very highest types of Christian manhood, much above 
all other emigrants. Could such men be found?" 1 

In an address before a large assembly in tbe city ball at 
Worcester on tbe 13tb of March, 1854, to protest against 
tbe passage of tbe Douglas bill, Mr. Tbayer beralded bis 
plan of organization. In concluding bis speech he stated : 

" It is now time to think of what is to be done in the event of the 
passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. Now is the time to organize 
an opposition that will utterly defeat the schemes of the selfish men 
who misrepresent the nation at Washington. Let every effort be 
made, let every appliance be brought to bear, to fill up that vast and 
fertile Territory with free men — with men who hate slavery, and who 
will drive the hideous thing from the broad and beautiful plains where 
they go to raise their free homes. [Loud cheers.] 

" I for one am willing to be taxed one-fourth of my time, of my 
earnings, until this be done — until a barrier of free hearts and strong 
hands shall be built around the land our fathers consecrated to free- 
dom, to be her heritage forever." [Loud cheers.] 2 

Mr. Tbayer at once proceeded to draw up a charter of 
tbe Massachusetts Emigrant Aid Company. By persistent 
work before a committee and tbe Legislature he succeeded 
in having a bill passed granting tbe charter, which was 
signed by the Governor on the 26th of April. Soon after- 
ward the incorporators held a meeting to prepare for a 
plan of work. The object of tbe company was to aid emi- 
grants in their journey to Kansas and settlement therein. 
The enterprise also had a commercial side, for it was 
thought that through investment in lands, the building of 
hotels, and the carrying-on of business, returns might 
eventually be obtained for those interested. But the 
dominant idea was that of advancing settlement in tbe 
new Territory. The original capital stock was fixed at 

1 The Kansas Crusade, p. 24. 

2 Idem, p. 25. 



. 



mm 



102 LIFE OF CHAELES EOBINSON" 

five millions. The books for stock subscriptions were 
opened, and the undertaking fairly started. For the op- 
erations of 1854 it was decided to collect an assessment 
of four per cent, as soon as one million had been subscribed. 
The whole object of this company organization was to 
save Kansas to freedom by actually doing it. As Eli 
Thayer says, " Our work was not to make women and chil- 
dren cry in antislavery conventions by sentimental ap- 
peals, but to go out and put an end to slavery." 

Two great difficulties were in the way. One was the 
opposition of the Abolitionists, who held that the coloni- 
zation scheme was unpatriotic and false in principle. The 
Abolitionists were uncompromising in everything; they 
would behead the slave power with the sword, for in no 
other way could slavery be suppressed. The report that 
organized efforts were being made in the North to forward 
emigrants to colonize Kansas, stirred up all western 
Missouri to prevent the success of any such movement. 
To overcome, then, the influences of the Abolitionists on 
the one hand and the hostility of the Missourians on the 
other, were the chief difficulties to be encountered. But 
a great work of arousing public sentiment was carried on, 
and the efforts of Eli Thayer insured the success of the en- 
terprise. Speeches and addresses were made throughout 
the North to arouse enthusiasm, and subscriptions to stock 
were secured to carry on the financial side. 

Owing to the fact that the first charter saddled objec- 
tionable liabilities upon individuals who might associate 
under it, it was abandoned. " The whole business was 
passed into the hands of Thayer, Lawrence, and J. M. S. 
Williams, who were constituted trustees, and managed 



THE WAGER OF BATTLE 103 

affairs in a half -personal fashion until February, 1855, 
when a second charter was obtained, and an association 
formed with a slightly rephrased title — i The New Eng- 
land Emigrant Aid Company' — and with John Carter 
Brown, of Providence, Rhode Island, as president. In 
the conduct of the company, the trustees, who bridged 
the interval between the first and second charters, con- 
tinued to be a chief directive and inspirational force. Mr. 
Thayer preached the gospel of organized emigration 
with tireless and successful enthusiasm, while Mr. Law- 
rence discharged the burdensome but all-important duties 
of treasurer." Thus came into being the organization 
known as the New England Emigrant Aid Company; 
an organization somewhat more restricted in its nature 
than the earlier one had been, having all the objectiona- 
ble features of the latter removed, and devoting itself to 
a single purpose, that of colonizing Kansas. 

It is at this juncture that Charles Robinson appears 
on the scene of the Kansas conflict. He was chosen as 
financial agent of the Emigrant Aid Company, with his 
field of operations in Kansas. As before stated, 1 at one 
of the Chapman Hall meetings, Eli Thayer saw for the 
first time Charles Robinson, and engaged him to act as the 
agent of the Emigrant Aid Company. Speaking of the 
wisdom of the choice, Mr. Thayer says : 

" A wiser and more sagacious man for this work could not have 
been found within the borders of the nation. By nature and by train- 
ing he was perfectly well equipped for the arduous work before him. 
A true democrat and a lover of the rights of man, he had risked his 
life in California while defending the poor and weak against the 
cruel oppression of the rich and powerful. He was willing at any 

1 See Chapter I. 



■ 



104 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON" 

time, if there were need, to die for his principles. In addition to suck 
brave devotion to his duty, he had the clearest foresight, and the 
coolest, calmest judgment in determining the course of action best 
adapted to secure the rights of the Free-State settlers. No one in 
Kansas was so much as he the man for the place and time. He was a 
deeper thinker than Atchison, and triumphed over the border ruffians 
and the more annoying and more dangerous self-seekers of his own 
party. The man who 'paints the lily and gilds refined gold' is just the 
one to tell us how Charles Robinson might have been better qualified 
for his Kansas work. But his character, so clearly defined in free- 
dom's greatest struggle, superior to the help or harm of criticism, 
reveals these salient points of excellence: majesty of mind and hu- 
mility of heart, stern justice and tender sympathy, heroic will and 
sensitive conscience, masculine strength and maidenly modesty, leonine 
courage and womanly gentleness, with power to govern based on self- 
restraint, and love of freedom deeper than love of life." x 

Subsequent events are sufficient to justify this high 
tribute to Governor Robinson's character and his fitness 
for the place given him by the recommendation of Mr. 
Thayer. He was large enough and broad enough in con- 
ception, and sufficiently careful and judicious to be in- 
trusted with the management of affairs of a great Terri- 
tory. Nature had given him a peculiar insight into 
affairs, and endowed him with a shrewdness and sagacity 
which enabled him to compete successfully with opposing 
forces. The actual services of Dr. Robinson in the build- 
ing of Kansas are more and more apparent to the people 
and to the historian as years of reflection disclose the real 
situation of the case. Mr. Amos A. Lawrence, of Bos- 
ton, who was the strong support of the Emigrant Aid Com- 
pany, and who watched with care every movement in 
Kansas during the period of struggle, speaking before the 

1 The Kansas Crusads, p. 34, 






THE WAGER OF BATTLE 105 

Massachusetts Historical Society in May, 1884, paid this 
remarkable tribute to Charles Robinson : 

" He was cool, judicious, and entirely void of fear, and in every 
respect worthy of the confidence reposed in him by the settlers and 
the society. He was obliged to submit to great hardships and in- 
justice, chiefly through the imbecility of the United States Govern- 
ment's agents. He was imprisoned, his house was burned, and his 
life was often threatened. Yet he never bore arms or omitted to do 
whatever he thought to be his duty. He sternly held the people to 
loyalty to the Government against the arguments and example of the 
' higher-law ' men, who were always armed, who were not real set- 
tlers, and who were combined in bringing about the border war, which 
they hoped would extend to the other States. The policy of the New 
England Society carried out by Robinson and those who acted with 
him in Kansas was finally successful and triumphant." 

It was through identification with his work as agent of 
the Emigrant Aid Company that Dr. Robinson began his 
career in Kansas. In this as in other matters he acted ac- 
cording to his earnest convictions. He opposed slavery; 
he believed in the settlement of Kansas and the conquest 
of the slave-power by building up homes of freemen on 
a free soil. Once committed to this, proposition, he 
brought his varied experience and his excessive energy 
to the support of the work. In this he was greatly aided 
by his wife, Mrs. Sara T. D. Robinson, who was admira- 
bly qualified for her responsible position as a support for 
her husband in his arduous work. She had a keen insight 
into affairs, a quick perception and ready judgment, as 
well as a fearless and active nature which brought her 
services more than once into demand in times of critical 
moment. Mr. Thayer, speaking of her adaptibility and 
eminent services, says: 

" Entirely devoted to the cause of freedom, Mrs. Robinson brought 
to her work a well-disciplined mind, high courage, and an unconquera- 



■ 



106 LIFE OF CHAKLES ROBINSON 

ble faith. She was an inspiration to all the women in the Territory, 
whom she influenced by her ardent words and her graceful though 
vigorous pen. Nor did her influence stop at the confines of the field 
of conflict between the two hostile civilizations, but extended through- 
out the free States. In 1856 she published a most entertaining book, 
replete with charming pictures of the daily life of our brave pioneers, 
and of thrilling incidents of that most exciting period. This had 
wide circulation, and was a very efficient aid in our great work." x 

The book referred to written by Mrs. Robinson was en- 
titled " Kansas ; Its Interior and Exterior Life." Of all 
the books that the author has consulted in connection with 
the subjects treated in this little volume, no other one 
possesses the peculiar charm of this book of Mrs. Robin- 
son's. Written upon the spot, while the scenes and inci- 
dents described were fresh in her mind, her graphic pen- 
pictures give the reader such a representation of the ac- 
tual condition of affairs as is not to be found anywhere 
else in print. The book is not written with any desire to 
establish a theory or to defend a partisan measure, as un- 
fortunately so many books about Kansas are written, but 
it aims to tell just what is seen, is happening, or transpir- 
ing, before the observation of those active in the Territory. 
How fortunate it would be had many of those active in 
the Kansas struggle written at the time, as Mrs. Robinson 
did, their record of events as seen from their own stand- 
point, rather than waited until later years, as so many of 
them did, to tell the story from reflective memory. In 
attempting to tell things just as they are without any 
especial embellishment, Mrs. Robinson has lent a peculiar 
charm to her work, which will be a source of perennial 
delight to the investigator of Kansas history and to the 

1 The Kansas Crusade, p. 35. 



THE WAGER OF BATTLE 107 

peruser of Kansas books. It goes into history as a classic ; 
it is both literature and history. 

The actual services of the Emigrant Aid Company are 
hard to estimate. It would be as easy to overestimate as 
to underestimate what it really accomplished. Perhaps 
its best services are to be found in the work of the Boston 
agency in forwarding emigrants at reduced fares and di- 
recting them into the new Territory; in the perpetual 
agitation kept up by Eli Thayer and other members of the 
company, by which many were induced to go to Kansas on 
their own account ; in its provision of an agency at Kansas 
City and Lawrence for the aid of all immigrants ; in the 
encouragement it gave to the founding of schools and 
churches ; and, lastly, in building hotels and sawmills. 
While the company was instrumental in forwarding many 
citizens directly to Kansas, the first immigrants, so aided, 
found other Free-State people already in the Territory 
on their arrival. But the Free-State men in and about 
Lawrence, where the headquarters of the Company were 
located, met a variety of interests and many difficulties. 
Lawrence became the storm-center of the Free- St ate cause, 
as well as the Aid Company's base of operation. It be- 
came the rallying-point of the Free-State men as well as 
the object of attack and especial hatred of the Proslavery 
party. The services of the Company cannot be measured 
by the actual numbers of voting settlers which it placed in 
the Territory, for its general services were quite as impor- 
tant as its special. Moreover, while many other agencies 
were at work in helping Kansas, the whole Xorth felt the 
impulse of the agitation aroused by the operations of the 
Emigrant Aid Company. On the other hand, by vigor- 



108 LIFE OF CHARLES KOBHNTSON 

ously defending its own it aroused the special hatred of the 
Proslavery people of the South and increased the intensity 
of the strife. 

What would have been the result in Kansas if this Com- 
pany had never existed, no one can determine ; but as the 
whole question as to whether Kansas should be admitted 
as a free or slave State finally hinged on the number of 
voters in the Territory, and as the Tree-State people 
needed protection and defense in order that they might 
come to Kansas and remain, it does not seem likely that 
the results actually achieved could have been entirely at- 
tained without the services of the Company. But it must 
be remembered that Kansas was not admitted, although 
the local battle was really won, until the cause for freedom 
had taken national proportions ; until the movement 
against slavery had become a national one. Hence the 
services of the Company in focusing the sentiments of the 
North on Kansas were not greater than in uniting the 
North in its preparation for a great national struggle. 

While New England and the Emigrant Aid Company 
were powerful in agitation and action, much credit is due 
to the hardy and courageous pioneers who came from the 
other States, — particularly those of the Northwest and of 
Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Iowa. Early in 1854 these peo- 
ple came to Kansas to settle, to make homes, to subdue the 
soil, and, if necessary, to fight as well as to vote for free in- 
stitutions. A careful examination into the historical rec- 
ords will reveal the names of many from these States who 
bore a manly and active part in the Kansas struggle. 
Thus did the Northern States contribute to Kansas their 
several quotas of emigrants who were to become defenders 
of the soil against the encroachments of the slave-power. 



m 



THE WAGER OF BATTEE 109 

It was an interesting spectacle to see the hosts of freedom 
hurrying forward from all parts of the North and West 
to meet the slavery hordes of the South ; especially inter- 
esting as this movement meant the settlement by physical 
force of what statesmen could not settle in the halls of 
Congress. The North had accepted the challenge of the 
South to meet and settle the difficulty by votes, and this 
really meant nothing else than the settling of the account 
by a passage at arms, if it appeared necessary. The peo- 
ple of the North understood the case, and met the demands 
of the emergency. But there were grave fears on the part 
of the opponents of slavery that the North would not be 
able to send sufficient numbers to outvote the proslavery 
element, and great anxiety prevailed lest the Territory 
should be captured by the advocates of slavery before the 
Northern emigration was thoroughly set in motion. The 
Proslavery party realized the importance of an early con- 
quest, and did all in their power to retard immigration 
from the North, to harass the Free-State settlers, and to 
obtain and keep control of the Territorial Government. 

But the lines of battle were soon closely drawn. On the 
one side was the Proslavery party of the South, aided by 
many Northern Democrats, and having the entire sym- 
pathy of the Federal Government ; and on the other was 
the Antislavery party of the North. Each sent forward 
its representatives to the field of battle, to settle, by mortal 
combat if need be, one of the greatest and most grievous 
questions that ever troubled a nation. The war of words, 
the struggle of laws in Congress, was shifted to the plains 
of Kansas, and was there turned into bloody strife. But 
this little cloud of war which arose out of the West was 
presently to envelop the whole nation. 



110 LIFE OF CHAELES EOBXNSON 



CHAPTEE IV. 

EAELY SETTLEMENT AND THE LAWEENCE WAE. 

In June, 1854, Dr. Charles Robinson, of Eitchburg, 
and Mr. Charles H. Bransconib, of Holyoke, Massachu- 
setts, were sent to explore the Territory of Kansas and 
select a site for the location of the emigrants sent out un- 
der the protection of the Emigrant Aid Company. As 
before related, Dr. Robinson had passed from Kansas City 
to the present site of Lawrence and over the California 
road to the Pacific slope. The road which he traversed 
started at Westport, crossed the Wakarusa near what was 
once the town of Eranklin, and wound over the low hill 
southeast of where now stands the State University. At 
this time Robinson and his party climbed the hill on which 
the University is now situated, and from the top of Mount 
Oread obtained magnificent views of the surrounding coun- 
try. When chosen as agent of the Emigrant Aid Com- 
pany and directed to explore the country for a suitable place 
for settlement, the magnificent country around Mount 
Oread must have been prominent in the mind of Dr. Rob- 
inson. 

On arriving in Kansas Dr. Robinson passed up the 
Missouri as far as Leavenworth, taking note of the natural 
advantages of the country; while Branseomb passed di- 
rectly to the present site of Lawrence, where subsequently 
Dr. Robinson met him. While the exploration of these 
advance agents was taking place, a company was being 
formed in E"ew England to establish a colony in Kansas. 



EAELY SETTLEMENT 111 

Twenty-nine emigrants formed this first party, who started 
off on their long journey with the great enthusiasm char- 
acteristic of initial movements. They received ovations 
at Worcester and Albany, and were cheered at all the 
principal stations on their westward journey. The colony 
traversed Lake Erie in the steamer " Plymouth Rock," 
and passing through Chicago, came to St. Louis, where 
they were met by Dr. Robinson. The Doctor at once 
looked after general needs, and secured transportation on 
the steamer " Polar Star," which left St. Louis July 24th, 
for Kansas City. Leaving Kansas City on July 28th, 
1854, they traveled on foot to Lawrence, having an ox team 
to carry their baggage, and arrived at their destination 
July 31st. Twenty-five tents were pitched on the north 
side of Mount Oread, and the emigrants ate their first meal 
near where the old University building now stands. On 
the 2d day of August they went to work laying out claims, 
driving stakes and preparing for permanent settlement. 
After the New England custom, they soon held a town 
meeting for organization, and discussed the feasibility of 
locating at this place. After due consideration, it was 
decided by the majority to remain and form a town in this 
locality, on the supposition that the Massachusetts Aid 
Company Avoulcl make this the basis of their operations in 
the Territory. In a day or two they moved off the hill, 
which they named Mount Oread, after Mr. Thayer's 
Castle home and the Young Ladies' Institute on Mt. Oread 
in Worcester, Massachusetts, and camped near the Kaw 
river. After spending some time in claim-hunting, quite 
a number of the emigrants returned East for the purpose 
of bringing their families. 



112 LIFE OF CHABLES BOBINSON 

In the mean time Dr. Robinson had returned to St, 
Louis to conduct to Kansas the second party of emigrants, 
which left Boston the last of August. This party was 
much larger than the first, containing sixty-seven members 
in the beginning, and receiving accessions on the way until 
the number was one hundred and fourteen, several ladies 
and several children being numbered in the company. 
They arrived at Lawrence, or Wakarusa as it was then 
called, September 9, when they joined the first party, and 
soon agreed with them upon plans for the union of the two 
companies and for the laying-out of the town. Among 
these early emigrants were many who were to take promi- 
nent part in the settlement of the future State, — pioneers 
in a new country who were to lay the foundation of a new 
commonwealth and to build their structure upon it. The 
character of this people was of old "New England quality. 
They were anxious to transplant !New England institu- 
tions into the fertile soil of the ~New West, but were not 
wanting in that practical thrift which ever characterized 
the early ISTew England settlers ; for they were interested 
in the fertile lands of Kansas as well as in the institu- 
tions of ISTew England. " Truly, they sought to establish 
civil and religious liberty in Kansas and at the same time 
to enter and possess the promised land. The process w T as 
to establish homes, to develop the resources of the country, 
that free institutions might flourish." The Emigrant Aid 
Company was sending out free men to make Kansas a 
free State, but in order to do this these men must first be- 
come bona fide settlers, tilling the soil, building towns, 
improving the country, and organizing government. 
Thus, while interested in their own welfare, they sought 



EARLY SETTLEMENT 113 

the freedom of others; for, as Col. S. N. Wood, in an ad- 
dress delivered at the quarter-centennial celebration at 
Topeka, said : " The pioneers who became trusted leaders 
among the Free- State hosts were men who could not rest 
in their old, comfortable homes when the demon of human 
slavery was clutching at freedom's rightful heritage. 
Many of them were the sons of the old antislavery agita- 
tors, and had learned from childhood to hate slavery and 
to love freedom, and to claim it as the right of all men, 
races, and conditions." 

It is interesting to note the effect of the transmission of 
puritanical ideas from New England to the plains of Kan- 
sas. The local institutions of Old England which were 
developed in New England have been repeated and per- 
petuated in the far West. Yet more remarkable than 
these is the philosophy of right and wrong, of duty and of 
service, which actuated these people. While after the 
manner of New England people they were strict in the ob- 
servance of the law and provincial in their notions of right 
and wrong, a supreme consciousness of the right regard- 
less of conventionalities was ever ready to make them 
break forth in denunciation of any opposition to what their 
conscience told them was right. These sterling qualities 
made them fit for pioneers, fit to stand in a great struggle 
for the right against fearful opposition. They must be 
not alone the architects of their own fortunes, but also 
the builders of their own commonwealth and the preservers 
of the liberties of the people. 

They brought with them the Bible and their ideas of 
public schools. They brought with them ideas of New 
England culture and refinement. They were not forced 



114 LIFE OF CHAKLES ROBINSON 

to leave their homes on account of personal oppression as 
were the Puritans and Pilgrims of old, but like those early 
emigrants they sought to "better their economic condition 
and at the same time to build up civil and religious free- 
dom in a new land. While in the railroad station at Bos- 
ton the second party of emigrants sang Whittier's well- 
known hymn, which voiced the sentiments of the party : 

" We cross the prairies as of old 
Our fathers crossed the sea, 
To make the West, as they the East, 
The homestead of the free. 

" We go to rear a wall of men 
On Freedom's southern line, 
And plant beside the cotton tree 
The rugged northern pine. 

" We "re flowing from our native hills 
As our free rivers flow; 
The blessing of our mother land 
Is on us as we go. 

" We go to plant the common school 
On distant prairie swells, 
And give the Sabbaths of the wilds 
The music of her bells. 

" Upbearing, like the ark of God, 
The Bible in our van, 
We go to test the truth of God 
Against the fraud of man." 

They further voiced their sentiments in a hymn written 

for the occasion, as follows 1 : 

"We '11 seek the rolling prairies, 
The regions yet urseen, 
Nor stay our feet unweary 

By Kansas' flowing stream. 



EARLY SETTLEMENT 115 

" And then with hands unfettered 
Our altars we will raise; 
With voices uplifted 

We '11 sing our Maker's praise." 

Many of the emigrants were opposed to slavery from 
principle, and they were now to take peaceful possession 
of a new land, to stand for principles which had been in- 
culcated in their education. It is an easy matter to make 
professions and speeches and to agitate, but to enter a 
field of operation and actually to demonstrate by service 
what the conscience dictates is very far from easy. To 
establish a free State by living was the object of the Emi- 
grant Aid Company. Mr. Eli Thayer, the founder of this 
Company, states this object as follows: 

" The present crisis was to decide whether freedom or slavery 
should rule our country for centuries to come. That slavery was a 
great national curse ; that it practically ruined one half of the nation 
and greatly impeded the progress of the other half. That it was a 
curse to the negro, but a much greater curse to the white man. It 
made the slaveholders petty tyrants, who had no correct idea of them- 
selves or of anybody else. It made the poor whites of the South more 
abject and degraded than the slaves themselves. It was an insur- 
mountable obstacle in the way of the nation's progress and prosperity. 
That it must be overcome and extirpated. That the way to do this 
was to go to the prairies of Kansas and show the superiority of free- 
labor civilization; to go with all our free-labor trophies: churches 
and schools, printing-presses, steam-engines, and mills; and in a 
peaceful contest convince every poor man from the South of the 
superiority of free labor. That it was much better to go and do 
something for free labor than to stay at home and talk of manacles 
and auction-blocks and bloodhounds, while deploring the never-ending 
aggressions of slavery. That in this contest the South had not one 
element of success. We had much greater numbers, much greater 
wealth, greater readiness of organization, and better facilities of 
migration. That we should put a cordon of free States from Minne- 
sota to the Gulf of Mexico, and stop the forming of slave States. 



116 LIFE OF CHAKLES EOBINSON 

Alter that we should colonize the northern border slave States and 
exterminate slavery. That our work was not to make women and 
children cry in antislavery conventions by sentimental appeals, but 

TO GO AND PUT AN END TO SLAVERY." * 

Such was the philosophy behind the emigration move- 
ment from New England. But the carrying out of this 
philosophy is what concerns us now, for it is in this Dr. 
Robinson appears prominent. 

Other emigrants were pouring in from different parte 
of the North and Northwest, But it is the province of this 
book to follow more especially the work of the Emigrant 
Aid Company and the connection of that Company with 
the settlements of eastern Kansas about Lawrence, because 
it is with this phase of the work that Dr. Robinson had 
most to do in the early period. But Lawrence from the 
earliest period of its existence was the storm-center of the 
struggle. Primarily because of its connection with the 
company which sought to establish freedom in Kansas, it 
was an object of especial hatred to the hordes of Missou- 
rians who sought to fasten the shackles of slavery upon the 
new Territory. In and around this center took place 
nearly all of those bitter struggles which characterized the 
early settlement of the State. Difficulties arose in very 
many directions. The first trouble was due to contests 
over disputed claims. Soon after the passage of the 
Douglas bill, which it will be remembered provided for 
squatter sovereignty in Kansas, the citizens of Missouri 
who were determined to make Kansas a slave State rushed 
across the border and staked out claims on much of the 
desirable land, in order to preoccupy it and prevent the 

1 The Kansas Crusade, p. 31. 



EARLY SETTLEMENT 117 

Northern immigrants from establishing their claims. 
JSTearly all of these people returned to their own homes after 
their claims were registered in an office in Missouri. The 
manner of occupation was merely to drive in a few stakes 
or throw a few logs across one another and call the struc- 
ture a cabin, or to put up a notice saying that certain ter- 
ritory was preempted. This was all that was usually done 
towards settlement. With these pretension and the reg- 
istration of claims, the Missourians hoped to keep the 
"Yankees" off the soil. Prior to the establishment of 
the town-site of Lawrence, several of these claims had 
been taken on the ground later occupied by the town. 
When the emigrants arrived and laid out the town, only 
two of these " squatter sovereigns " were on the ground ; 
but subsequently other " sovereigns " returned, and a strife 
arose out of the attempt to settle claims. The claim of 
one of the two " squatter sovereigns," just mentioned, was 
purchased and paid for, but the other claimant, a John 
Baldwin, refused to sell. Mr. Stearns had improved a 
quarter-section, but Mr. Branseomb paid him five hundred 
dollars out of the Emigrant Aid treasury for his claim, 
and he relinquished all rights and title. John Baldwin 
established himself within a few rods of the Stearns cabin, 
and asserted his right to one hundred and sixty acres of 
the land. The managers of the town company desired to 
leave the question to the courts, but Baldwin was not so 
inclined, and employed a young man by the name of C. 
W. Babcock as his attorney. Dr. Robinson advocated the 
defense by the Free-State settlers of all claims until the 
courts should settle the difficulty. Baldwin, however, as- 
sociated with himself Stone and Freeman, men of some 



118 LIFE OF CHARLES EOBINSON 

means and influence, together with the attorney Babcock, 
and placed the entire business in the hands of a specu- 
lator named Starr, who immediately proceeded to lay 
out a rival city on the same territory, which he named 
Excelsior. 

As the public survey had not yet been made and mapped, 
the titles to lands were not clearly defined, and things 
were in a very confused state. The strife over claims 
grew very bitter, contentions arising between Free-State 
as well as Proslavery men. But the struggle which arose 
out of the question of property rights finally was reduced 
to a strife between the antislavery and proslavery elements. 
An attempt was made by the Baldwin party to remove the 
tent of the Emigrant Aid Company's property, but the 
representatives of the latter were vigilant and came to the 
rescue. The following day, Baldwin and the Missouri ans 
began to assemble in the neighborhood of the tent, and 
about four o'clock the following message was sent to Dr. 

Robinson : 

" Kansas Territory, October 6th. 
Dr. Robinson: Yourself and friends are hereby notified that 
you will have one-half hour to move the tent which you have On my 
disputed claim, and from this date desist from surveying on said 
claim. If the tent is not moved within one-half hour, we shall take 
the trouble to move the same. 

(Signed) John Baldwin and Friends." 

The following pointed reply was instantly returned : 

" To John Baldwin and Friends : If you molest our property 
you do it at your peril. C. Robinson and Friends." 

The Missouri ans to the number of eighteen, fully 
equipped and armed, rallied around their tent. Fully 
thirty of the settlers rallied around their own tent, and 



EARLY SETTLEMENT 119 

prepared for war. After the notice had been sent, a con- 
sultation was held between Dr. Robinson and a delegate 
from the enemy's post. Dr. Robinson proposed to leave 
the case to the settlement by arbitration of disinterested 
and unbiased men, or to settlement by the squatter courts 
then existing, or to the United States court. But a rep- 
resentative of the Baldwin party insisted that at the end 
of the half-hour they should proceed to remove the tent, 
and if they failed in the attempt, three thousand Missou- 
rians, or if necessary thirty thousand, would be raised 
in Missouri to sweep the settlers from the earth. The 
half-hoir* passed, however, and no demonstration was 
made; and another quarter of an hour passed and the 
Baldwin party were still consulting in sight of the Robin- 
son party. A little incident perhaps had much to do with 
the settlement of the question. During the suspense, John 
Hutchinson, one of the Robinson party, asked Dr. Rob- 
inson what he would do if they attempted to remove the 
tent: "Would he fire to hit them, or would he fire over 
them ? " Dr. Robinson promptly replied that he would 
be ashamed to fire at a man and not hit him. It appears 
that a man who had been with the Free-State men now 
went over to the Proslavery men. The latter soon after- 
ward dispersed, and this ended the struggle for the claim. 
A report of the strife and its results was circulated far 
and wide among the Proslavery settlers, who now sent out 
a call for a meeting, signed by many citizens. The sover- 
eign people of Kansas Territory were requested to meet 
in Lawrence, January 11th, at eleven o'clock, to adopt 
measures to protect themselves against moneyed associa- 
tions and influence, and against the tyrannical encroach- 



120 LIFE OF CHARLES BOBINSOtf 

ments daily made by the Lawrence association. As the 
Lawrence association was composed of Free-State men 
backed by the Emigrant Aid Company, whose purpose was 
known, the efforts of the Proslavery men were therefore 
to be directed against the association. The meeting was 
rather mob-like in its character, and during it an attempt 
was made to shoot Dr. Robinson. There was much bitter- 
ness manifested in the meeting against the Lawrence asso- 
ciation, the Emigrant Aid Company, and Dr. Robinson in 
particular. Believing that the resolutions of this meet- 
ing were not expressive of the sentiments of the people at 
large, another meeting was called, by those who were not 
members of the Lawrence association but were in sympathy 
with it. This meeting was held in the church, on the 16th, 
and was composed of both members and non-members of 
the association, who proceeded to denounce the resolu- 
tions of the meeting of the 11th. Stirring resolutions 
were also adopted commending the great work of the Emi- 
grant Aid Company, and cordially inviting the members 
of the Lawrence association to remain and cooperate in 
the settlement of the country. At the same meeting a 
committee of the Lawrence association passed resolutions 
discountenancing any acts of violence, trespass, or injus- 
tice; upholding the protection of the home and the per- 
son ; denying that the Lawrence association had committed 
any violation of justice, and refuting the accusations of 
their enemies. "Dr. Robinson, toward the close of the 
meeting, made a short and sensible speech, refuting some 
of the charges made against him, counseling his hearers 
of the danger of quarrels among themselves, and impress- 
ing upon them the duty and necessity of union; but they 



EARLY SETTLEMENT 121 

might, with voice and hand and means combined, defend 
these hills and valleys, these rivers and broad prairies 
from the curse of human bondage and chains of slavery." 
Some time after this meeting an attempt was made to 
cut down the house of Dr. Robinson, and it was only on the 
approach of Free-State men that the cutting was given up 
and the vandals slunk away. Disturbances and annoy- 
ances and the strife for property were continued for some 
time. But while Dr. Robinson was in the East, having 
gone thither to conduct a party of emigrants westward 
in the spring of 1855, a compromise was made between 
the land-jumpers and the settlers of Lawrence. The area 
of the town was limited to six hundred and forty acres, 
and four or five men were given one hundred shares out of 
a total of two hundred and twenty into which the site was 
divided, leaving one hundred and ten shares for the origi- 
nal Free-State town company, two shares in trust for the 
endowment of a school, and eight shares for the Emigrant 
Aid Company. This compromise was a great detriment 
to the town, and there is no evidence of any reason why it 
should have been made, as the town-site jumpers had no 
right whatever to the territory. When the town-site was 
selected the territory included within the corporate limits 
was excepted from individual preemption. As Lawrence 
was selected as the town-site the last of July, 1854, and 
these lands were not open to settlement, according to the 
statement of the Land Commissioner, until September 28th 
of that year, no individual claimant could have any 
right to the territory either prior to the 28th or afterward, 
as the land was covered by the town-site. But this com- 
promise did not settle the difficulties in regard to claims, 



122 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

which, were eventually adjusted by Government officials. 
It was very unfortunate for the town of Lawrence that Dr. 
Robinson was absent at this time, because his clear head 
and shrewd management would not have allowed any such 
compromise. He would have held out to the last for what 
was just and right, and without doubt Government officials 
would have eventually settled everything in favor of the 
bona fide settlers of Lawrence. This would have been 
much better for the town in very many ways. 

But the settlement of claims and town-sites was a small 
part of the trouble of these early immigrants. While the 
North was being aroused for the purpose of sending in 
Free-State men for the settlement of Kansas, Missouri and 
the South were wide awake to the situation, and determined 
if possible to make Kansas a slave State. The newspapers 
of Missouri all along the border denounced the " abolition- 
ists " and " Yankees " in the vilest terms, and public 
speakers proclaimed the determination to blot them from 
the face of the earth. A meeting of Proslavery men at 
Salt Creek Valley resolved : " That we recognize the in- 
stitution of slavery as always existing in this Territory, 
and recommend slaveholders to introduce their property 
as early as possible. That we will afford protection to 
no abolitionists as settlers of Kansas Territory." At Lib- 
erty, Missouri, June 8, 1854, the Democratic platform 
contained the following clause: 

" We learn from a gentleman lately from the Territory of Kan- 
sas that a great many Missourians have already set their pegs 
in that country, and are making arrangements to ' darken the at- 
mosphere ' with their negroes. This is right. Let every man that 
owns a negro go there and settle, and our Northern brethren will 
be compelled to hunt further north for a location." 



_ 



EARLY SETTLEMENT 123 

The division of Nebraska Territory into Kansas and 
Nebraska made many people think that while the latter 
might be free, the former was necessarily to be slave. The 
Missourians were thoroughly and practically committed 
to the latter proposition. 

The Platte Argus stated, among other things, the fol- 
lowing in an address to Missonrians : 

" Citizens of the West, of the South, and Illinois : Stake out 
your claims; woe be to the Abolitionist or Mormon who shall intrude 
upon it, or come within reach of your long and true rifles, or within 
point-blank shot of your revolvers. Keep a sharp lookout lest some 
dark night you shall see the flames curling from your houses or the 
midnight philanthropist hurrying off your faithful servant." 

Such inflammatory articles, resolutions and speeches as 
these aroused the Missonrians to the point of desperation, 
until they w T ere ready to adopt any means whatsoever to 
make Kansas a slave State. They were ready to intimi- 
date, oppress, rob, pillage, burn, shoot, even murder, for 
the sake of carrying their point. Hence it was that the 
people on the borders of Missouri interfered in every way 
possible in the settlement and government of Kansas. This 
interference appeared most prominently in the first elec- 
tions in Kansas. 

The Federal administration at Washington was in 
sympathy with the proslavery movement in Kansas ; and 
while it endeavored to maintain a tone of respectability, 
it also endeavored at all times to favor the Proslavery men. 
Governor Reeder arrived in Lawrence on the 19th of Oc- 
tober. This first Territorial Governor of Kansas had ar- 
rived at Leavenworth on October 7th. He was received 
with a great ovation, the Proslavery element predominat- 
ing in the reception. They intended here to capture the 



124 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

newly appointed Governor and win him over to their way 
of thinking. On his way to Fort Riley he visited Law- 
rence, where he was well received. The whole city of 
two hundred inhabitants assembled to welcome the Gov- 
ernor, and addresses, toasts, speeches, a dinner and general 
good cheer made this a day long to be remembered in the 
annals of the town. A bit of verse contributed by Mrs. 
S. 1ST. Wood, full of poetic feeling and fine thought, of- 
fered to Governor Reeder a most hearty welcome to the 
Territory. Governor Reeder was desirous of treating 
everybody fairly within the Territory. This, of course, 
was a difficult thing to do. The lines between Proslavery 
and Antislavery parties were being drawn more closely 
every day. People were pouring in from the Northern 
States more rapidly than they could be well cared for, 
while Missouri and the South sent in some immigrants 
and kept up a constant agitation against the Free-State 
cause. Two newspapers were established in Lawrence, — 
the Kansas Pioneer, a Free-State paper edited by John 
and J. L. Speer, and the Herald of Freedom, edited by 
G. W. Brown. The first number of the former was 
printed at Medina, Ohio, and the first number of the latter 
at Conneautville, Pa. Mr. Speer took the copy for the 
first number of his paper to the office of the Kansas City 
Enterprise to have it printed, but when it was ascertained 
to be a Free-State paper, Judge Story, the publisher of 
the Enterprise, refused to print it. Mr. Speer met with 
the same experience in the office of the Leavenworth Her- 
ald, and was finally obliged to print his paper in his old 
home, Medina, Ohio, where freedom of the press and free- 
dom of speech were not restricted. 



EAKEY SETTLEMENT 125 

As progress was made in the settlement and organization 
of Kansas, troubles began to deepen, clouds began to ap- 
pear on the horizon, and these hardy pioneers were soon 
called upon to test their strength in the adherence to the 
purposes for which they had come to Kansas. Appar- 
ently the odds were against them, for the few Free-State 
men were under the shadow of the populous State of Mis- 
souri, whose inhabitants were determined to make Kansas 
a slave State and to drive the abolitionists and Free-State 
men from the country. The attempt at Territorial or- 
ganization that was now made defined the situation and 
precipitated the struggle. Governor Keeder made his 
first election proclamation November 10th, 1854, which 
defined the qualification of voters and gave a list of elec- 
tion districts and polling-places. It provided that any 
free male person who was twenty-one years of age and an 
actual settler was entitled to vote. This election was 
called for the choosing of a Delegate to Congress, and was 
held on the 29th of November, 1854. Before the day of 
election, armed hordes poured over the Missouri line 
into the Territory for the purpose of controlling the elec- 
tions. These people visited the polls, claimed that they 
were residents because they were in the Territory, and had 
a right to vote because they were twenty-one years of age, 
and cast votes for the Proslavery candidate, General 
Whitfield, who was thus illegally elected to Congress. 
Out of a total number of 2,833 votes which were cast for 
Mr. Whitfield, 1,724 were fraudulent. There is little 
doubt, indeed, that Mr. Whitfield could have been elected 
had there been no fraudulent votes cast, for at this time the 
majority of the citizens of the Territory were Proslavery. 



126 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

Threats were made by the Proslavery people that if any- 
one challenged a vote he would be killed. The eighth dis- 
trict was a remote, sparsely settled territory. In this 
district 584 illegal votes were cast and only 20 legal ones. 
At Leavenworth several hundred men came over from 
Platte, Clay and Ray counties, and camped around the 
town to control the polls. After the election was over the 
men from Missouri mounted their wagons and horses, cry- 
ing out, "All aboard for Westport and Kansas City ! " and 
then returned to their homes in Missouri, to await another 
opportunity to help control Kansas. The only salvation of 
the Territory seemed to be the multiplication of Free-State 
men who could outvote the Missourians. In February, 
1855, Governor Reeder caused the census to be. taken, 
which showed the whole number of inhabitants to be 
8,501. As soon as the census was completed Governor 
Reeder issued a proclamation announcing an election for 
March 30, 1855, to choose a legislative assembly. The 
Missourians were preparing to control this election after 
the manner of the preceding one. General Atchison had 
made speeches in Missouri ; so had one Stringfellow, who 
urged a firm resistance to antislavery men. Secret soci- 
eties, called Blue Lodges, Friends' Societies, etc., were 
organized in western Missouri for the purpose of blotting 
out abolitionism ! They passed fiery resolutions denounc- 
ing Northern men, offering large rewards for the heads of 
some, and asserting that they would drive the abolitionists 
from the country. This agitation had been going on for 
nearly a year. As early as May, 1854, one of the princi- 
pal speakers who harangued the people from the court- 
house steps in Westport repeated frequently in the course 



EARLY SETTLEMENT 127 

of his speech a favorite threat: "Ball to the muzzle, 

knife to the hilt. Damn the abolitionists — we '11 put them 

all in the Missouri river." Prior to the election of March, 

1855, Stringfellow, in addressing a crowd at St. Joseph, 

Missouri, said : 

" I tell you to mark every scoundrel among you that is the least 
tainted with free-soilism or abolitionism, and exterminate hira. 
Neither give nor take quarter from the damned rascals. I propose 
to mark them in this house and on the present occasion, so that you 
may crush them out. To those having qualms of conscience as to 
violating laws, state or national, the time has come when such impo- 
sitions must be disregarded, as your lives and property are in danger, 
and I advise you one and all to enter every election district in 
Kansas, in defiance of Reeder and his vile myrmidons, and vote at 
the point of the bowie-knife and the revolver. Neither give nor take 
quarter as our cause demands it. It is enough that the slaveholding 
interest wills it, from which there is no appeal. What right has 
Governor Reeder to rule Missourians in Kansas? His proclamation 
and prescribed oath must be disregarded; it is to your interest to do 
so. Mind, that slavery is established where it is not prohibited." 

This was the attitude of the Missourians towards the 
Free- State cause in Kansas. All laws, state and national, 
were to he disregarded when necessary. As stated by Mrs. 
Eobinson, the people of Missouri had been excited by the 
inflammatory rumors put in circulation among them by 
their leaders regarding the design and character of Eastern 
immigration. Aided by the oaths of the secret societies 
to which many of their people belonged, the leaders worked 
upon the prejudices and baser nature of these people to 
such a degree that they were fully equal to any deed of 
violence. Hundreds of ruffians poured out of Missouri 
into Kansas to be present on the election day, and when 
that day came they voted as often as they wished and in 
a manner suiting themselves, intimidating judges and 



128 LIFE OF CHARLES EOBINSON 

stuffing ballot-boxes until a majority of votes was rolled 
up in favor of the Pro-slavery candidates for Legislature. 
The returns of the election were carefully canvassed by 
Governor Reeder, who ordered a new election declared in 
the districts where illegal voting had occurred. To illus- 
trate their method, it may be said that in the Lawrence 
district one thousand men came in wagons and on horse- 
back on the evening preceding the election and on the fol- 
lowing morning. Finding that they had more voters than 
they needed, they dispatched part of their forces to other 
districts. They openly asserted that they had come to 
the Territory to elect a Legislature to suit themselves, 
and afterwards boasted that they had done so. By the 
census recently taken the Lawrence district at this time 
possessed 369 voters, but 1,034 votes were cast at the 
election, 781 for the Proslavery candidates and 253 for the 
Free-Soil candidates. At the new election ordered by 
Governor Reeder, to be held May 25th, in those districts 
where frauds were evident, the results of the former elec- 
tion were reversed in every district but one. After the 
first election the Missouri and Kansas Proslavery papers 
boasted of the great victories their party had won. The 
Leavenworth Herald of April 6th headed a column as 

follows : 

All Hail! 
The Pro- Slavery Party Victorious. 
We Have Met the Enemy and They Are Ours. 
Veni, Vidi, Vici. 
Free White State Party Used Up. 
The triumph, of the Proslavery party is complete and overwhelm- 
ing. Come on, Southern men! Bring your slaves and fill up the 
Territory. Kansas is saved! Abolitionism is rebuked, her fortress 
stormed, her flag dragged in the dust, etc. 



EABLY SETTLEMENT 129 

From this time on, the great issue in Kansas was slav- 
ery. The people of Kansas henceforth needed the most 
careful guidance in order not to wreck the prospects of the 
Territory. The Free-State men were to be fought to the 
bitter end by the Proslavery people of Missouri and Kan- 
sas. The Free-State men were opposed by the Abolitionists 
at home and abroad, because the latter did not believe in 
the methods employed by the former. They must fight 
unjust laws and oppression in such a manner as not to en- 
danger the safety of their cause. They must be careful 
not to array themselves against the Federal Government 
on the one hand, nor on the other to submit tamely to 
local authority when that local authority was fraudulent, 
deceptive, a robber and oppressor of their rights. 

The people of Kansas were at this time always called 
Abolitionists, but they were different from the Abolition- 
ists in spirit and in opinion. They were in Kansas to build 
up a free State ; they were there to maintain their rights. 
These duties were imperative. Wendell Phillips, a leading 
Abolitionist of Boston, Massachusetts, had said: 

" Why is Kansas a failure as a free State ? I will tell you. You 
sent out there some thousand or two thousand men — for what ? 
To make a living, to cultivate the 160 acres, to build houses ; to send 
for their wives and their children; to raise wheat; to make money; 
to build sawmills; to plant towns. You meant to take possession of 
the country, as a Yankee race always takes possession of a country, — 
by industry, by civilization, by roads, by houses, by mills, by churches. 
But it will take a long time; it takes two centuries to do it." 

Yet, it took less than ten years to accomplish this great 
feat ! It is as a counselor and guide to the Free-State men 
in their arduous struggle in building up a great common- 
wealth that Dr. Robinson appears to the best advantage. 

— 9 



130 LIFE OF CHAKLES KOBINSO^" 

After the election of March, 1855, which was well known 
to be fraudulent on account of the Missouri invasion, he 
advocated what at first appeared to be a very strange doc- 
trine. He held that the Free-State men ought not in any 
way recognize the bogus Legislature just elected. This 
idea was not at first received with much favor, but the lead- 
ers as well as the rank and file of the Free-State men soon 
came to regard the course it suggested as, under the cir- 
cumstances, the only one to follow. Dr. Robinson took the 
view that the Federal Government of the United States 
was established on the principles of justice and right ; that 
it had dominion over all parts of the nation; that every 
citizen, far and wide, owed an allegiance to it; and that 
no person should ever oppose the Federal authorities, not 
only because of the right of the Government to rule, but 
because of the duty of law-abiding citizens to obey. More- 
over, it was certain that anyone who attempted to oppose 
Federal authority would be beaten in the contest. 'Not so 
the Territorial Government. Here were people of differ- 
ent shades of political belief and belonging to different 
parties, seeking to build a new commonwealth in a given 
territory. In the building of this government it was right 
and just to repudiate fraud in every form, that justice 
might be securely established. He held that, as Missouri- 
ans had obviously no right to elect a legislature for Kansas, 
any legislature so elected should rightly be termed a bogus 
legislature, whose authority should not be acknowledged 
by bona fide citizens of the Territory. 

The following letter by Dr. Robinson to Eli Thayer, soon 
after the fraudulent election of the "bogus Legislature," 
is a clear exposition of the situation. It is also evidence 



EARLY SETTLEMENT 131 

that Dr. Robinson fully comprehended the situation, and 
understood the nature of the foe the settlers of Kansas had 
to fight. In this letter he prophetically alludes to the great 
struggle that is to come between freedom and slavery, and 
the request for arms is also an indication that he knew that 
a conflict was inevitable: 

[Fob E. Thayer. This is sent to Mr. Rice, to avoid opening and 
delay on the way.] 

Lawrence, April 2, 1855. 

Dear Sir: Another election in Kansas Territory has passed, and, 
like the first, was controlled entirely by Missonrians. A few days be- 
fore the election, I was traveling in the southern and eastern part of 
the Territory, and met hundreds of people from Missouri on their 
way to the different voting precincts in the Territory. Encamp- 
ments were formed in the vicinity of the polls, varying in size accord- 
ing to the number of voters required in the several districts to secure 
their end. The grand rendezvous was at Lawrence, where they had 
reinforcements stationed for all parts. 

At Tecumseh two of the judges of election refused to take the oath 
prescribed by the Governor, and the third refused to proceed, when 
the mob, after snapping pistols at the antislavery judge and threat- 
ening to destroy all the judges if they did not leave, proceeded to 
choose judges of their own and go on with the election. The Free- 
State men accordingly abandoned the polls, and did not vote. 

At Douglas the judges attempted to conform to the law and in- 
structions of the Governor, when they were mobbed and driven off. 
Consequently, no antislavery voting was done at that place. 

At Lawrence about a thousand Missourians took possession of 
the polls, and threatened to hang one of the judges — who was 
formerly from Missouri, but antislavery — if he refused to take their 
votes, and he refused to serve at all. A Proslavery man was put in 
his place, leaving but one of the Free-Soil. He was overruled, and 
refused to serve, leaving the field to our enemies, and they all voted 
who chose. No Free-Soil man could get near the polls till late in 
the day, when a few of our men voted. 

I arrived at Lawrence about 3 o'clock p. m., and found the town an 
encampment of Missourians, who had given out that they intended in 
the night to destroy Lawrence, root and branch. We immediately pre- 



132 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

pared to give them a good time in doing it, and kept one hundred 
men sleeping on their arms all night, with a good Avateh in all parts 
of the city. The Missouri spies were out during the whole time, and 
nothing but their finding a large guard patrolling the city saved us 
from destruction. 

At the polls they assailed Mr. Bond and friend Stearns, who were 
obliged to leave, as it was in the early part of the day and but few of 
our people were on the ground. Bond was fired at, but not wounded. 
They attempted to frighten Mr. Pomeroy and make him leave the 
polls, but failed to do so. Some of their leaders told him confiden- 
tially that he was in danger; that the people were infuriated, and 
they could not control them nor keep them off from him. He told 
them they need not trouble themselves about him, but let them come 
on if they wanted to, for if they could not keep them off he could — 
so Mr. P. told me himself he talked to them. He was not molested. 

I was told that frequent inquiries were made for me in the fore- 
noon, and it was asserted that I would not be allowed to vote. When 
I learned their desire to see me I went over to the polls and voted, 
and then passed through their camp arm-in-arm with Mr. Brown, 
who also had been threatened. Neither of us was disturbed or in- 
sulted, although all eyes were turned upon us. 

It is said they had two cannon with them. Col. Doniphan also was 
said to be here, and said that next fall they should be on hand again. 
It is also said that Atchison talks of running for Delegate to Con- 
gress, and bring his voters with him; and a man from Missouri, a 
Bentonite, says the plan is if he does so, for " Old Bullion " to take 
the field against him, and his friends also will see that fair play 
is had. 

Our people have now formed themselves into four military com- 
panies, and will meet to drill till they have perfected themselves in 
the art. Also, companies are being formed in other places, and we 
want arms. Give us the weapons and every man from the North 
will be a soldier and die in his tracks if necessary, to protect and 
defend our rights. 

It looks very much like war, and I am ready for it and so are our 
people. If they give us occasion to settle the question of Slavery in 
this country with the bayonet, let us improve it. What way can bring 
the slaves redemption more speedily? Wouldn't it be rich to march 
an army through the slaveholding States and roll up a black cloud 
that should spread dismay and terror to the ranks of the oppressors? 



EARLY SETTLEMENT 133 

But I must close, for want of time. 

Cannot your secret society send us 200 Sharps rifles as a loan till 
this question is settled? Also a couple of field-pieces? If they will 
do that, I think they will be well used, and preserved. I have given 
our people encouragement to expect something of the kind, and hope 
we shall not be disappointed. Please inform me what the prospect 
is in this direction. 

If the Governor sets this election aside, we of course must have 
another, and shall need to be up and dressed. 

In great haste, 

Very respectfully, 

C. Robinson. 

To Hon. Eli Thayer, Worcester, Mass. 

Following this idea, the people of the Territory began 
to form themselves into organizations and to hold conven- 
tions, in preparation for a great struggle for constitutional 
liberty. From June 8th to August 15th, no less than seven 
conventions were held in the city of Lawrence, all but one 
favoring the repudiation of the bogus Legislature. But 
what tended more than anything else at this juncture to 
arouse enthusiasm and to shape the policy of the Free-State 
men, was the first Fourth of July celebration held in the 
Territory of Kansas. The people of Lawrence and the sur- 
rounding territory met in an enthusiastic gathering about 
a mile from Lawrence, in a beautiful grove. Two com- 
panies of militia armed with Sharps rifles appeared in 
their uniforms. They were presented with a magnificent 
silk flag by the ladies of Lawrence. The " Star-Spangled 
Banner" was sung, the Declaration of Independence was 
read, and an oration delivered by Dr. Robinson. Then 
followed a dinner, after which the day was devoted to 
toasts, speeches, and music. It is interesting to note some 
of the toasts proposed. Important among them were the 
following : " Young Kansas — The rights of her citizens, 



134 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

trodden down for a brief period, have but aroused her to an 
appreciation of freedom and inspired her sons with spirit 
and vigor which will bid defiance to her enemies." " Law- 
rence — Its course is onward." " The Pioneers of Kan- 
sas." " The Laborers of Kansas." " Universal Educa- 
tion." " Kansas — May its fertile soil never be cursed 
with slavery." "The Kansas Legislature — A body alien 
to our soil, elected by fraud — we are not responsible for 
its acts and ask no favors at its hands." We are told that 
great enthusiasm prevailed in these first patriotic exercises, 
and that toasts were responded to ably by educated men ; 
for nearly all the immigrants from the North and East 
in the early period of Kansas were educated men, many of 
them college graduates. 

But the most striking feature of the day was the oration 
of Dr. Robinson. This remarkable document was pro- 
duced in full in The Kansas Daily Tribune J July 14th, 
1855. It is worthy of permanent record, not only because 
of its importance in the Kansas conflict, but because it pre- 
sents the position and sentiments of Dr. Robinson. 1 

The oration gave a historical review of the progress of 
slavery, and a careful diagnosis of the present conditions. 
It was a bold and fearless address, appealing to the reason 
and stirring the emotions. Considering the situation, it 
appears to be the most remarkable of all of the addresses 
by the heroes and statesmen of the early part of the Kansas 
struggle. Near the close of the oration the orator appealed 
to the people as follows : 

"What are we? Subjects, slaves of Missouri! We come to the 
celebration of this anniversary with our chains clanking upon our 

3 See Appendix for full copy. 






EAKEY SETTLEMENT 135 

limbs. We lift to heaven our manacled arms in supplication. Pro- 
scribed, denounced, we cannot so much as speak the name of liberty, 
except with prison-walls and halters looking us in the face. We must 
not only see black slavery, a blight and curse to any people, planted 
in our midst, and against our wishes, but we must become slaves our- 
selves." 

In closing he said: 

" Fellow-citizens, in conclusion, it is for us to choose for our- 
selves, and for those who shall come after us, what institutions shall 
bless or curse our beautiful Kansas. Shall we have freedom for 
all her people, and consequent prosperity, or slavery for a part, 
with the blight and mildew inseparable from it? Choose ye this day 
which ye will serve, slavery or freedom, and then bo true to your 
choice. If slavery is best for Kansas, then choose it, but if Liberty, 
then choose that. Let every man stand in his place and acquit him- 
self like a man who knows his rights, and, knowing, dares main- 
tain them. Let us repudiate all laws enacted by foreign legislative 
bodies, or dictated by Judge Lynch over the way. Tyrants are 
tyrants, and tyranny is tyranny, whether under the garb of law or in 
opposition to it. So thought and so aeted our ancestors, and so let 
us think and act. We are not alone in this contest. The entire na- 
tion is agitated upon the question of our rights: the spirit of ; 76 
is breathing upon some, the handwriting upon the wall is being dis- 
cerned by others, while the remainder the gods are evidently prepar- 
ing for destruction. Every pulsation in Kansas vibrates to the remot- 
est part of the body politic: and I seem to hear the millions of free 
men and the millions of bondmen in our land, the millions of op- 
pressed in other lands, the patriots and philanthropists in all coun- 
tries, the spirits of the Revolutionary heroes and the voice of God, 
all saying to the people of Kansas, ''Do your duty! ' :> 

Thus, in the face of the hordes of Missouri under Atchi- 
son, Stringf ellow, and others, who sought by fraud to make 
Kansas a slave State, and before the eyes of a hostile and 
opposing Federal Administration, Doctor Robinson threw 
down the gauntlet. It was the expression of the minority 
to rightful revolution in asserting its rights and demanding 
justice. It was a call to all free men to stand for the right 



136 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

and to give their lives to the cause of freedom and the 
principles and practice of right government. As Law- 
rence, the storm-center of the struggle that now ensued, 
was a Free-State stronghold, it was subjected to the bitter 
hatred of the unprincipled persons in the Territory and 
on the Missouri border, who sought by any means, fair or 
foul, to make Kansas a slave State. The men who settled 
the town were peaceable, law-abiding citizens, who desired 
to settle the question of slavery at the ballot-box rather 
than by force of arms, but who were ready to protect their 
interests by the latter method if necessity required. 

The threats and demonstrations made by the Proslavery 
leaders, residing chiefly in Missouri, and the lawless inter- 
ference in Territorial elections, made it appear desirable if 
not necessary that the Free-State men should organize for 
defense. Several companies were formed, but they were 
without arms. It was quite natural that they should look 
toward New England for aid and support. They there- 
fore asked their New England friends to send them Sharps 
rifles for their protection. These were sent, packed in 
boxes labeled " books," or anything except " arms." They 
were of immense service in gaining bloodless victories for 
the Free-State men, for the Proslavery men had a whole- 
some fear of these repeating rifles. The following letter, 
written to Mr. Thayer by Dr. Robinson, shows the latter's 

attitude in the matter: 

Lawrence. July 26. 1855. 
Me. Thayer — Dear Sir : The bearer, J. B. Abbott, is a resident 
of this district, on the Wakarusa, about four miles from Lawrence. 
There is a military company formed in his neighborhood, and they are 
anxious to procure arms. Mr. Abbott is a gentleman in whom you 
can place implicit confidence, and is true as steel to the cause of Free- 
dom in Kansas. In my judgment the rifles in Lawrence have had a 



EAKLY SETTLEMENT 137 

very good effect, and I think the same kind of instruments in other 
places would do more to save Kansas than almost anything else. 
Anything you can do for Mr. A. will be gratefully appreciated by the 
people of Kansas. We are in the midst of a revolution, as you will 
see by the papers. How we shall come out of the furnace, God only 
knows. That we have got to enter it, some of us. there is no doubt; 
but we are ready to be offered. 

In haste, very respectfully yours, 

For Freedom for a World, 

C. Robinson. 

Excitement was running high, on account of the struggle 
between the Free-State and Proslavery parties. In Mis- 
souri the notorious secret societies called Blue Lodges were 
established for the extension of the Proslavery cause and 
for the purpose of fighting "Abolitionists " wherever they 
could be found. They had their spies and tools throughout 
Kansas Territory. In addition to this, after the arrival of 
Wilson Shannon, the second Territorial Governor, there 
was organized at Leavenworth, on ^November 14th, 1855, a 
" Law and Order Party," which, it was pretended, was 
formed as a vigilance committee to suppress lawlessness, 
but which was in reality an instrument designed by the 
Proslavery party to crush free-soilism and abolitionism, 
and to sustain the laws and government of the " bogus Leg- 
islature." For their own protection, the Free-State men 
organized " The Kansas Legion," a secret society for de- 
fense against the outrages of the border ruffians ; but this 
society did not interfere with the Missouri people within 
their own territory. This organization tended to draw 
more closely the lines of battle between the Proslavery and 
the Free-State people. 

Several events occurred which made the strife between 
the two parties more bitter. For example, one Pat Laugh- 



138 LIFE OF CHAELES BOBLNSON 

lin joined the Kansas Legion, and subsequently betrayed 
their secrets. When brought to account for this by a mem- 
ber of the Legion named Collins, he shot Collins, on Octo- 
ber 25th, 1855, and fled to Atchison, where he was protected 
by the Proslavery people. Another very important event, 
and one that exasperated the Free- State party, was the 
murder of Dow, a Free-State man, by a Proslavery man 
named Coleman, who shot Dow in cold blood on the occa- 
sion of a difficulty over a claim; although the real cause 
of the difficulty was that Dow was a Free-State man, or a 
so-called "Abolitionist." This event, which occurred on 
November 21st, 1855, was the beginning of a series of 
difficulties which led to the Wakarusa War, and is of suffi- 
cient importance to demand a recital of the more important 
facts connected with it. 

Dow was a young man of excellent character and inoffen- 
sive nature, who boarded with a man named Branson, on 
a claim at Hickory Point, a place eight or nine miles 
south of Lawrence. Hickory Point was a timbered district, 
over the possession of which there was considerable conten- 
tion by rival claimants. Charles Dow had taken up a 
claim adjoining that of Mr. Coleman, a Proslavery man, 
who had as neighbors Buckley and Hargous, both also 
ardent Proslavery men. There was considerable trouble 
and hard feeling between the Proslavery and Free-State 
men, which reached a climax in a contention between Dow 
and Coleman. It came about in this way : A new survey 
changed the provisional lines between Coleman's and Dow's 
claims, extending the boundary of Dow's claim into Cole- 
man's territory, whereupon Coleman began to cut timber 
on the land which was formerly supposed to be covered by 



EARLY SETTLEMENT 139 

his claim, but now belonged to Dow. Dow bade him de- 
sist; this he refused to do. Returning to Branson, Dow 
asked the latter to go over with him to see Coleman and 
stop his cutting the timber. Branson did so, taking his 
gun with him and advising Dow to do the same, but Dow 
declined to do this. 

As they approached Coleman he went away ; whereupon 
Branson returned home and Dow went to the blacksmith 
shop, where he was having a wagon-skein repaired. Soon 
afterward Buckley came in with his shotgun, loaded, and 
began to accuse Dow of using language against him, and 
threatened to kill him, even going so far as to cock his gun 
and to aim it at him. Dow said, " Mr. Buckley, you would 
not shoot me, would you ? " and the blacksmith interfered 
and told Buckley that he would not allow such language in 
his shop. When the repairs were completed, Dow started 
for his home at Branson's. On the way he passed by 
Coleman, who, when Dow had got beyond him about thirty 
yards, shot the young man, instantly killing him; or so 
it is supposed, for he had not moved from where be fell, 
when he was carried away by his friend Branson some 
hours later, life being extinct. 

It will never be known whether words were passed be- 
tween Coleman and Dow at that time, but this is immate- 
rial, for it is known that an unarmed man was killed in 
cold blood by one bearing a double-barreled shotgun loaded 
with slugs. The crime caused great excitement, and was 
denounced alike by Free-State and Proslavery settlers 
of the neighborhood. Coleman, the murderer, fled to 
the protection of Jones, the postmaster of Westport, Mis- 
souri, who was also the sheriff of Douglas county by ap- 



140 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

pointment of the " bogus Legislature." Buckley and Har- 
gous also left the country. The crime was committed on 
November 21st, and on the 26th, Monday, a meeting was 
held at the scene of the murder, in which about a hundred 
men passed resolutions of condolence with the family of 
Dow, and appointed a committee to bring the murderer to 
justice. The intense indignation against Coleman caused 
an attempt to burn his house, which stood near where the 
meeting was held. Four men broke down the door, rushed 
in, turned over some straw on the floor and set it on fire. 
Others, among whom were S. C. Smith and S. N. Wood, 
put out the flames, and Wood mounted a fence to urge 
against such action, saying: " Murder, pillage and arson 
are peculiarly the avocation of our enemies ; houses are too 
scarce to be burned, and this meeting must not be disgraced 
in this way." He proposed, as the " sense of the meeting, 
that the house be not burned." This was caried unani- 
mously, and the people quietly dispersed. However, subse- 
quently, Coleman's house, as well as Buckley's, was burned. 
Major Abbott lived on a claim about half a mile south 
of Blanton's bridge, and on the road to Hickory Point. 
S. C. Smith had a claim on Coal creek, about two miles 
from Mr. Branson's, while Col. S. F. Tappan and Col. 
S. BT. Wood lived in Lawrence. At the time of the killing 
of Dow, S. C. Smith was in Lawrence, engaged with S. F. 
Tappan in making a copy of the Topeka Constitution. 
Wood, Tappan and Smith all attended the meeting at 
Hickory Point, Wood and Tappan being the only two from 
Lawrence out of the hundred present. After the meeting, 
Tappan left Wood and Smith at Abbott's, and started to 
Lawrence. At Blanton's bridge he saw fifteen or twenty 



EABLY SETTLEMENT 141 

horsemen around Blanton's place, and soon the door opened, 
the men poured out, and, mounting their horses, rode off. 
Tappan stayed with them long enough to find out their 
purpose, and then returned to Abbott's. 1 

It seems that, at the instance of Buckley, a warrant had 
been issued by a justice of the peace named Hugh Cam- 
eron 2 for the arrest of Branson, and that the warrant was 
in the hands of Sheriff Jones, who with his posse was start- 
ing out to meet Branson. 

Whether Branson had made any threats to kill Buckley 
and Coleman, it is difficult to ascertain, although it would 
seem to be the most natural thing that he should desire to 
see Buckley and Coleman brought to justice, and it would 
not be too much to suppose that, in the height of his in- 
dignation, he may have threatened to kill them if a good 
opportunity presented, although there is no evidence that 
he was planning to do so. On the other hand, Buckley and 
Coleman probably knew that they deserved to be shot, 
Avhether anyone attempted to do it or not. Jones appears 
to have been glad to have an opportunity to arrest a Free- 
State man, as he was certainly a Proslavery sympathizer 
who had helped in the elections against the Free-State 
cause, and was especially bitter against the town of Law- 
rence. At least, he protected Coleman and Buckley and 

1 The correct account of the rescue of Branson is very difficult to obtain, because, 
while the accounts of the principal actors agree in general, they differ considerably in 
details. The accounts of S. C. Smith, S. N. Wood, J. B. Abbott, Jonathan Kennedy, the 
reports in the newspapers and the account in Andreas' History all differ in the particu- 
lars. Because the accounts of Smith and Wood agree more exactly than any others, I 
have relied especially upon these. It seems, however, that Wood and Abbott, according 
to Wood's statement, left the meeting and started for Blanton's bridge, and also fell in 
with this same group of horsemen which S. F. Tappan had discovered, and reported to 
Wood and Abbott at Abbott's house. Major Abbott's account of the affair agrees in all 
the essentials with Smith's and Wood's, except as regards leadership of the rescuing 
party, which is entirely immaterial so far as this history is concerned. 

2 No one seems to know quite how Cameron received his commission, although it is 
thought by some that it was improvised for the occasion, and granted by the bogus Leg- 
islature. 



142 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

their sympathizers, and seemed to desire that Dow be got 
out of the way. 

The neighborhood was aroused, and messengers sent out 
to notify Free-State settlers to meet near Branson's, and 
Abbott and Wood started for Hickory Point. While Wood 
and Abbott were on their way to Hickory Point, riding 
silently along, Wood turned to Abbott and asked, " What 
will you do if you find the rascals at Branson's ? " Abbott 
replied, "You are the leader; just what you say." 1 

When they arrived at Branson's door and asked for 
Branson, they were told by his wife that twenty horsemen 
had taken Branson and gone, with threats that they would 
kill him. For two hours they rode over the prairie, search- 
ing for the posse with Branson, but were unable to find 
them. Finally Abbott started for Hickory Point, and 
Wood set out to notify various settlers and to go to Abbott's 
house. Smith and Tappan were also riding up and down 
the country, notifying the settlers what had happened 
and what was in prospect; Philip Hupp and others were 
doing similar duty. Wood arrived at Abbott's house just 
in time to prevent the departure of a dozen Free-State 
men who were there ; and soon after, Abbott came. While 
they were consulting what to do, along came Jones and his 
party with Branson, and the Free-State men rushed out of 
Abbott's house, confronting the sheriff and his posse in the 
road. After each party had inquired of the other what was 

1 There has been considerable dispute as to the leadership in the rescue. There 
was no regularly elected leader until the rescuing party started for Lawrence : then S. 
N. Wood was chosen captain, Major Abbott beat the drum, and S. C. Smith was lieu- 
tenant. Prior to that, the honors of leadership seem to have been divided between S. 
N. Wood and Major Abbott. Wood, by reason of his strong nature, was a natural leader 
and exceedingly aggressive. Abbott was brave and true and ready for substantial ac- 
tiOH. Wood was prominent in the meeting at Hickory Point, active in sending messen- 
gers, aggressive in moving with Abbott at Hickory Point, and was the chief spokesman 
in the parley between Jones and the rescuing party. Abbott was the first to speak 
when the demand was made of Jones for the delivery of the prisoner, Branson. 



EARLY SETTLEMENT 143 

up, Abbott asked, " 1- Branson there?" Branson replied, 
" Yes, 1 am here, a prisoner." Wood said, " [f you want 
to be among friends, oome over here, ,, and although Jones 
rened to shoot him if Ik- did so, Branson dismounted 
from the mule he was riding, walked over to the Free-State 
men and Avent into Abbott's house. Just at this rime, Smith 
and Tappau came up and saw the Free-State men Lined up 
across the road, with Wood in front, engaged in a sharp 
altercation with Jones and his party. Bitter language was 
used in the altercation, and on both sides guns were drawn 
and cocked. After an hour's parley, Jones and his party 
rode off, the leader threatening dire vengeance on the Free- 
State men. 

With a posse of armed men of his own selection, Jones 
had gone to the house of a man who had committed no 
crime, had savagely taken him from his bed, without show- 
ing any warrant, and had forced the prisoner to ride half- 
clad about the country, while his own fellows were a part 
of the time in a drunken carousal. While Jones was dis- 
appointed at the loss of his prisoner in this ignominious 
way, he doubtless would have been glad had such a rescue 
occurred in Lawrence, so that he might have had an excuse 
for the destruction of the town. As it was, he made the 
best of it, and subsequently aroused the Proslavery forces 
against the town. 

After the rescue the Tree-State people organized, with 
S. !N~. Wood as captain, S. C. Smith lieutenant, and Major 
Abbott at the drum, and immediately started for Lawrence. 
About four o'clock in the morning they arrived at the house 
of Dr. Robinson, aroused him, and asked his advice. " The 
slight form of the leader stood a little nearer the door, and 



144 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

when his peculiar dry manner of speech fell upon the ear 
in his brief inquiry, ' Is Dr. R. in?' his identity was 
known. Dr. Robinson opened the door and invited them 
in." With his keen insight and native shrewdness the 
Doctor at once took in the whole situation. He saw that 
this would probably furnish the long-wished-for pretext for 
calling out the forces against Lawrence, and he advised 
the rescuers to report in town. A meeting was soon called 
for the purpose of discussing the mode of procedure. It 
was a very important occasion, for the policy adopted here 
would determine the Free-State course in the coming con- 
flict. " Early on the morning of the 27th the drum-beat 
calling the citizens of Lawrence together was heard in the 
little town of Lawrence. The noise of the hammer was 
still, but, in the firm tread and thoughtful countenances 
of the men, as they walked up the stairway to the hall 
where the meeting for consultation was to be held, the 
spirit of '7fi was visible, and a determination if they must 
tight against oppression as our fathers did, that a new Lex- 
ington or Concord on Kansas plains should go down to pos- 
terity with the unsullied honor of her defenders." * 

When the citizens assembled, Captain S. "N. Wood was 
made chairman. He addressed the meeting, telling of the 
events of the night before in the rescue of Branson. Mr. 
Branson also arose, telling of the killing of Dow, and of 
his own arrest. Others spoke, and Mr. G. P. Lowry pro- 
posed that a committee of safety composed of ten should be 
appointed. Dr. Robinson advised that " as Lawrence had 
no connection with the matter, any formal action or in- 
dorsement by her citizens would be impolitic." 2 Subse- 
quently, about nine o'clock, Dr. Robinson made a second 

1 Kansas ; Its Interior and Exterior Life, p. 109. 
3 Kansas Conflict, p. 188. 



EARLY SETTLEMENT 145 

vieit to the town, found the citizens' meeting in progress, 
and learned that a committee of safety had been appointed, 
of which he was a member. " The committee was at once 
convened, and decided that Lawrence had nothing to do 
with the affair, and should assume no responsibility for it 
as a town, although no person censured the rescuers for 
their action." 1 For, notwithstanding this formal action, 
it was understood that the Free- State men were in full 
sympathy with Branson, and indignant at the murder of 
Dow, as well as the conduct of Buckley, the instigator 
of the arrest, that of Hugh Cameron, who had issued the 
warrant, and that of Sheriff Jones and his posse, who had 
arrested Branson. Yet, as the arrest of Branson had oc- 
curred some ten miles from Lawrence and the rescue about 
three, it could be truly affirmed that Lawrence had not 
planned, ordered, or executed the rescue, and therefore 
was not responsible for it. Branson had committed no 
crime, even though it is true that he stated that if he 
could " draw a bead on Coleman," the murderer of a mem- 
ber of his family, "he [Coleman] would not breathe the 
pure air of this planet another minute." It was far dif- 
ferent with the rescuers of Branson, however, for they 
had resisted an officer of the law and forcibly taken a 
prisoner from him. This could be used against the Free- 
State men as the basis for a charge of treason and rebel- 
lion, and a pretext for calling out the militia to suppress 
this rebellion. Dr. Robinson advised Wood, Smith and 
Tappan to absent themselves for a time from the town. 
Wood was therefore sent to Ohio ls an agent of the com- 
mittee of safety, and Tappan and Smith stayed outside 
of the town. 

3 Kansas Conflict, p. 189. 
— 10 



146 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

Jones started for Franklin with his posse, and immedi- 
ately sent a dispatch to his father-in-law, Col. Boone, at 
Westport, Missouri, asking for aid; and at Col. Boone's 
suggestion he also sent to Governor Shannon, at Shawnee 
Mission, for 3,000 men to put down the rebellion at Law- 
rence. Jones was not slow to appreciate the situation; 
indeed, there are those who believe that the whole affair 
was planned as a trap to catch the Free-State men, that 
Jones might have an excuse for the destruction of the town 
of Lawrence. Whether this is true or not, it was at least 
used as a pretext for this purpose, and the Free-State men 
of Lawrence, observing the situation, sought to avoid, in 
the manner indicated, giving any excuse for the destruction 
of the town and the putting into peril of the Free-State 
cause. Had the Governor been a far-seeing man, had he 
been thoroughly versed in the affairs of the Territory, or 
even had his steps been ordered with a view to securing 
justice to all citizens of the Territory instead of following 
blindly the dictates of the Federal Administration and the 
Proslavery party in Kansas, he could not have done such 
a foolish thing as to call out the militia. But without even 
trying to ascertain the actual condition of affairs, he issued 
a proclamation calling out the militia of Kansas, which 
really meant the calling of the ruffians of Missouri for the 
destruction of Lawrence. The plan worked well, for the 
Missourians were ready to do their part. All along the 
border the following order was sent out by the Proslavery 
party : 

TO AKMS! TO ARMS! 

It is expected that every lover of Law and Order will rally at 
Leavenworth on Saturday, December 1, 1855, prepared to march at 
once to the scene of the rebellion, to put down the outlaws of Douglas 



EARLY SETTLEMENT 147 

County who are committing depredations upon persons and property, 
burning down houses, and declaring open hostility to the laws, and 
have forcibly rescued a prisoner from the sheriff. Cone one, come all. 
The laws must be executed. The outlaws, it is said are armed to the 
teeth, and number 1,000 men. Every man should bring his rifle and 
ammunition, and it would be well to bring two or three days' pro- 
visions. Every man to his post and to his duty. 

Many Citizens. 

The people from the border rushed forward, and soon 
there were 1,500 men confronting Lawrence. The people 
of Lawrence, both men and women, were preparing the 
town for defense. Dr. Robinson was made Commander, 
and General Lane his able Lieutenant. The Sharps 
rifles that had been shipped to Lawrence from Xew Eng- 
land were of immense value on this occasion, for fear of 
them kept the enemy from sudden attack. It was a 
strange spectacle, almost a comedy had it not been so near 
a tragedy, and in any case it was certainly a travesty on 
free government, for United States Senator Atchison to 
be commanding this singular horde, while Governor Shan- 
non was hurrying other commands to the scene of war. 

There was not a grain of excuse for it all. The rescuers 
of Branson had left the town, and there was not a day in 
which Jones might not go through Lawrence unmolested 
in doing his duty. He actually did go to the town and re- 
turn without being disturbed. Governor Shannon became 
alarmed first for the safety of the attacking Missourians, 
and second for the safety of Lawrence. He sent to Colonel 
Sumner at Leavenworth for IT. S. troops, but Sumner 
would not come without orders from Washington. 

In the mean time, Lawrence was continually being rein- 
forced by Free-State men from the surrounding towns. 
Finally the Lawrence citizens appealed to the Governor, 



148 LIFE OF CHAELES BOBINSON 

sending two men to acquaint him with the situation. In- 
credulous, he was persuaded to go to Lawrence and see for 
himself. Governor Shannon was amazed at the situation. 
He saw what his hand had wrought by his foolishly com- 
plying with the request of a foolhardy and designing 
sheriff, without ascertaining the exact condition of affairs. 
Failing to get Colonel Sumner to bring the United States 
troops, he brought the leaders of the besiegers into confer- 
ence with the leaders of the besieged. Governor Shannon 
of Kansas Territory, Colonel Boone of Westport, Mo., Colo- 
nel Kearney of Independence, Mo., and General Strickler 
of Kansas, came to Lawrence in the interests of peace, 
and consulted for an hour with Robinson and Lane, the 
representatives of the Committee of Safety. 

After Shannon had heard the whole story he suggested 
that a treaty be drawn up and signed by the leaders. This 
was accordingly done. It was an excellent way out of the 
dilemma, but here was another scene in the drama of 
spectacular government: the town of Lawrence, in rebel- 
lion, treating with the Kansas militia, the latter com- 
manded by officers living in Missouri ! The document 
is as follows, and was drawn up by James M. Winchell : 

TREATY OF PEACE. 

Whereas, there is a misunderstanding between the people of 
Kansas, or a portion of them, and the Governor thereof, arising out 
of the rescue near Hickory Point of a citizen under arrest, and some 
other matters; and 

Whereas, a strong apprehension exists that said misunderstanding 
may lead to civil strife and bloodshed; and 

Whereas, it is desired, by both Governor Shannon and the people 
of Lawrence and vicinity, to avert a calamity so disastrous to the in- 
terests of the Territory and the Union, and to place all parties in a 
correct position before the world ; — 

Now, therefore, it is agreed by the said Governor Shannon and 



EAKLY SETTLEMENT 149 

the undersigned people of Lawrence, that the matter in dispute be 
settled as follows, to wit: 

We, the said citizens of said Territory, protest that the said 
rescue was made without our knowledge or consent, but, if any of our 
citizens were engaged, we pledge ourselves to aid in the execution of 
any legal process against them; that we have no knowledge of the 
previous, present, or prospective existence of any organization in the 
said Territory for the resistance of the laws, and that we have not 
designed, and do not design, to resist the legal service of any crim- 
inal process therein, but pledge ourselves to aid in the execution of 
the laws, when called on by proper authority, in the town or vicinity 
of Lawrence, and that we will use all our influence in preserving 
order therein; and we declare that we are now, as we ever have been, 
ready at any time to aid the Governor in securing a posse for the 
execution of such process: Provided, That any person thus arrested 
in Lawrence or vicinity, while a foreign force shall remain in the 
Territory, shall be duly examined before a United States district 
judge of said Territory in said town, and admitted to bail: And pro- 
vided further, That Governor Shannon agrees to use his influence to 
secure to the citizens of Kansas Territory remuneration for any 
damages sustained, or unlawful depredations, if any such have been 
committed by a sheriff's posse in Douglas county; and further, that 
Governor Shannon states that he has not called upon persons resi- 
dents of any other State to aid in the execution of the laws, and such 
as are here in this Territory are here of their own choice; and that 
he has not any authority or legal power to do so, nor will he exer- 
cise any such power, and that he will not call on any citizen of an- 
other State who may be here. That we wish it understood that we 
do not herein express any opinion as to the validity of the enact- 
ments of the Territorial Legislature. 1 

Done at Lawrence, Kansas. December 8, 1855. 

(Signed) Wilson Shannon. 

C. Robinson. 
J. H. Lane. 

This treaty showed the good faith of the people of 
Lawrence and their genuine desire to settle the war, 
but it left them unpledged to support the " bogus " Ter- 
ritorial laws. Soon after the treaty had been signed, Lane 

1 Kansas : 3Irs. Robinaou, p. 150. 



150 LIFE OF CHARLES KOEINSON 

and Robinson accompanied Governor Shannon to the camp 
of the besiegers to persuade them to accept the terms and 
withdraw. It was not easy to do so, but they finally pre- 
vailed, and the Missourians started for home. 

What interests us most at the present moment is the 
service of Dr. Robinson in command ; for his wisdom and 
cool counsel saved the town from destruction. The ser- 
vices of General Lane were invaluable in the defense. His 
bold impetuosity was excellent to excite a struggle, but 
not safe when one was to be avoided. It is said that had 
it not been for the proper presentation of the subject to 
the leaders of the attack, they would not have consented 
to withdraw without a fight. The address of Lane aroused 
their antagonism, while the cool, compromising tone of 
Robinson caused them to submit to reason. More than 
once was Dr. Robinson compelled to quiet the citizens and 
soldiers who had assembled for the defense of Lawrence, 
in order to keep them from attacking the opposing camp. 
The policies of the two were widely different. Robinson 
held to the peace and defense policy, Lane to war and at- 
tack ; and Robinson won. Both were of immense service 
to the cause, and could they have gone through the entire 
Kansas struggle working together they would have been 
strong allies in the cause of freedom. After the " war " 
was over, Dr. Robinson said when called on to address the 
citizen soldiers of Lawrence: 

" Selected as your commander, it becomes my cheerful duty to 
tender to you, fellow-soldiers, the meed of praise so justly your due. 
Never did true men unite in a holier cause, and never did true bravery 
appear more conspicuous than in the ranks of our little army. 
Death before dishonor was visible in every countenance, and filled 
every heart. Bloodless though the contest has been, there are not 



EARLY SETTLEMENT 151 

wanting instances of heroism worthy of a more chivalric age. To the 
experience, skill and perseverance of gallant General Lane all credit 
is due for the thorough discipline of our forces and the complete and 
extensive preparations for defense. His services cannot be overrated, 
and long may he live to wear the laurels so bravely won. Others are 
worthy of special praise for distinguished services, and all, both offi- 
cers and privates, are entitled to the deepest gratitude of the people." 

In the course of the remarks made by Lane lie returned 
the compliment of Robinson by saying: "From Major- 
General Robinson I received the counsel and advice which 
characterize him as a clear-headed, cool and trust worthy 
commander, who is entitled to your confidence and es- 
teem." 

In the bloodless strife called the Wakarnsa War, and 
in all the other trying scenes the pioneers of Kansas 
went through, Dr. Robinson was ever a " clear-headed, 
cool, trustworthy commander," and people found him 
worthy their " confidence and esteem." His relations 
with the Emigrant Aid Company gave him a position to 
bestow favors and wield power. He managed the details 
of the Company's affairs judiciously, and placed its serv- 
ices to the best advantages of the emigrants. It is un- 
fortunate that this union of Lane's impetuosity and 
Robinson's cool counsel could not have continued through- 
out the entire Kansas struggle. This would have made 
the victory of the Free-State cause easier. The records 
of the leaders in that struggle would then have been more 
consistent than they are now, and, what is of greater im- 
portance, the rank and file of the people, who by their 
numbers and their votes made Kansas free, would have 
had less to suffer. 



152 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

At the defense of Lawrence, John Brown made his first 
formal entry into the affairs of the Territory. He had 
been in Kansas only a short time, arriving October 6th, 
1855, about two months before he came to Lawrence. His 
sons had written him of the border troubles in Franklin 
county, and he had come with arms and ammunition to 
help them, and, as he stated, to get a blow at slavery. He 
arrived at noon on December 7th, with four of his sons, 
in a wagon, all armed and well equipped for battle, just 
as the peace negotiations between Robinson and Lane and 
Shannon were taking place. He was very much disap- 
pointed at the prospect of peace, for he had come prepared 
to fight, and wanted to have an opportunity to do so. A 
company was formed in the fifth regiment of the Kansas 
Volunteers, commanded by Col. G. W. Smith, and Brown 
was placed in command. There was little to do but con- 
tinue to fortify Lawrence and arrange the men for defense, 
for soon the peace negotiations were signed, the " war " de- 
clared at an end, and the " militia " that beset the beleag- 
ured town dispersed. Brown's time of service was short, 
as he arrived on December 7th and his company was mus- 
tered out of service on the 12th of the same month. But 
he had remained long enough to reveal his personality, and 
courageous desire to fight, and to show his willingness even 
to die, if necessary, for freedom. He desired to come into 
conflict with the opposing forces — just what the Free-State 
men were seeking to avoid. [Nor was he slow in attempt- 
ing to disseminate dissension in the Free-State party re- 
garding the terms of the peace, for he held that to make 
such a peace was compromising and putting off the strug- 
gle that must eventually come. Compromising measures 



EAELY SETTLEMENT 153 

were -unknown in the realm in which dwelt the spirit of 
old John Brown. After the bloodless victory at Lawrence 
he returned to his home, to await his own time and op- 
portunity to strike a blow against the Proslavery people 
in his own way. 

The saddest event of the Wakarusa War was the 
murder of Barber. Barber lived at Bloomington, seven 
miles southwest of Lawrence, and when the Free-State men 
from Bloomington came to the defense of Lawrence he 
came with them. It was on Thursday noon, November 
6th, that he left Lawrence to visit home in company with 
his brother Robert and his brother-in-law, Thomas M. 
Pearson, who lived near him. When about three miles 
out of Lawrence, having left the main road, he and his 
companions were met by two horsemen, James Burns, of 
Westport, Missouri, and George W. Clark, Indian Govern- 
ment agent in the Pottawatomie territory, who rode from 
the ranks of a party of ten or twelve traveling on the 
California road. The party was a detachment of Proslav- 
ery men passing from the Lecompton camp to the Waka- 
rusa camp. Barber and his companions were ordered to 
turn back, and on their refusing to do so pistols were drawn 
on both sides and shots fired. In the controversy that pre- 
ceded the firing, Barber had replied that he was unarmed, 
and that he had been to Lawrence and was returning home. 
He put spurs to his horse and rode on, but George W. 
Clark of the attacking party instantly fired, and his bullet 
killed poor Barber, the only unarmed man in the group. 
Barber's death was not instantaneous, but soon after he 
had been wounded his companions found themselves un- 
able to support him, and he slipped from his saddle and 



154 LIFE OF CHARLES B-OBINSON 

died in the road. This deed so aroused the Free-State 
men that it came very near upsetting all of the peace plans 
of their leaders. On the other hand, as Governor Shannon 
looked upon the silent form of the murdered Barber he 
began to realize more closely the position he was in, and 
what it meant to call the "militia" of Kansas to help a 
sheriff arrest people who were not anywhere near Law- 
rence. 

The news of the murder spread throughout the nation, 
arousing the North to renewed efforts. Grief, patriotism 
or sympathy brought forth the whole community to the fu- 
neral. One who was present said : " The love we had al- 
ways borne to freedom is tenfold increased, while the 
hatred of oppression is intensified and strengthened. A 
new consecration of our energies, in this unequal fight for 
freedom, is made over the new-made grave." At the fu- 
neral, after the minister had finished the more than ordi- 
nary ceremony, short speeches were made by Generals 
Lane and Robinson. The address of the latter, though 
brief, was full of pathos and stirring in its appeals to man- 
hood and patriotism. Perhaps of the great variety of 
Robinson's addresses and writings, the oration at the fu- 
neral of Barber is the gem. 1 

The National Era of March 1st, 1856, published the 
well-known poem of John G. Whittier on the burial of 
Barber, which was read far and wide, arousing public sen- 
timent and causing hundreds to reconsecrate themselves 
to freedom's cause. Its dominant note was conquest 
through suffering, endurance, and patience : 

1 See Appendix B. 



EABEY SETTLEMENT 155 

" Will to suffer as you 
Pass the watchword along the line, 

Pass the countersign: Endure. 
Not to him who rashly dares, 
But to him who nobly bears, 

Is the victor's garland sure." 

But the Wakarusa War, closing with a compromise, was 
far from being the end of the great struggle. Indeed, 
its treachery and wickedness had scarcely begun. The 
severe winter that followed checked the invasions from 
Missouri, and prevented the marauding bands from enter- 
ing Kansas. All were struggling to protect themselves 
from cold, and to satisfy the most common needs. Over 
in Missouri, however, the agents of the Blue Lodge were 
wide awake, preparing for new invasions in the spring, 
and the cold cruel winter was to open upon a summer 
more terrible by far with its cruelties of war, plunder and 
murder. The Free-State men attempted to carry out the 
policy which they had adopted at the beginning, and it 
seems that they would have succeeded had not a certain 
series of events caused the invaders to appeal to the courts 
and driven the Free-State men to retaliation in the field. 

The policy of the Free- State men involved two things: 
first, the repudiation of the "bogus Legislature," and 
avoiding a conflict with the United States forces. This 
latter was, indeed, a difficult thing to do, for the United 
States forces, representing the United States Government, 
were backing up the " bogus Legislature." The position 
was untenable except in theory, for when put to the real 
test the Free-State men, so long as they were in the minor- 
ity, must submit to the power of a Territorial government, 
backed up as it was by the Federal Government. Second, 



156 LIFE OF CHARLES EOBINSON 

the Free- State policy involved a positive course, which was 
to frame and adopt a constitution and organize a State gov- 
ernment, with a possibility of admission into the Union 
under the constitution. This positive feature of their 
policy was put vigorously into operation. It, too, had its 
own dangers, for it went far enough to establish a separate 
legislature and elect a complete set of officers before ad- 
mission into the Union. 

On the other hand, the policy of the Proslavery party 
was much simpler. It was, first, to force the people of the 
Territory of Kansas into submission to the laws of the 
" bogus Legislature " and to the Territorial Government. 
In this they were aided by the United States Government, 
which favored the Proslavery party in the struggle. Here 
was the great disadvantage of the Free-State party; for 
whatever the Proslavery party did, they had behind them 
a legislature, a governor, a judiciary, and indeed a com- 
plete Territorial organization, with a code of laws sanc- 
tioned and supported by the Federal Government. On 
the other hand, the Free-State men acted without the law 
and outside the pale of recognized government. It is of 
great advantage in a struggle to have the law on your side, 
even though it be "bogus," or to have the government 
back of you even though it be elected by fraudulent votes, 
— and especially so when the Federal Government, legiti- 
mate in every respect, supports the law and enforces its 
decisions with its standing army. Again, the purpose of 
the Proslavery party was to exterminate all free-soilers 
as a method of assuring a Proslavery government. It 
seemed to be the only way they could dispose of those quiet, 
persistent, courageous people who were coming in such. 



■ ' . m^ 



EAKLY SETTLEMENT 157 

numbers into the Territory to build homes, develop the 
country and vote for freedom. The Proslavery party also 
sought to bring the Free-State party into conflict with the 
Federal authorities. Had they succeeded, the cause of 
freedom would soon have been lost in Kansas. 

One cannot turn to the history of these hardy pioneers, 
who met all the vicissitudes of a new country, who subdued 
the stubborn resistance of the soil, who endured the biting 
of the cold as they gazed through the open chinks in their 
log cabins, who lived upon the plainest fare, and, defense- 
less, were in constant terror of their lives, without feeling 
the most profound admiration for their devotion and forti- 
tude. This struggling against nature and fighting against 
ruffians, this establishing of a government and building 
of a commonwealth, showed these people to be of the hardy 
vigor of the old Puritans who wrought their character into 
the state that they builded. What a meager life it was in 
some ways, yet how grand and full of meaning in others ! — 
for out of those humble conditions was being brought to 
light the power which would eventually crush, out slavery 
everywhere and proclaim freedom throughout the land. 
It was only a step from the cracking of the rifles upon 
the plains of Kansas to the booming of the guns at Sum- 
ter; then a few longer and more awful steps and we see 
the final climax of it all in Appomattox and the fifteenth 
amendment. 

A goodly number of the eye-witnesses of the events just 
recorded have written descriptions of the conditions that 
prevailed in the Territory at that time, and accounts of all 
the incidents in the struggle for freedom. 

As illustrating the primitive condition of affairs in the 



158 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

first year in Kansas, a few brief quotations from Mrs. Rob- 
inson's diary will not be out of place : 

April 20th, 1855. — How lovely nature has made this Kansas val- 
ley; and yet it seems as if, from a full lap of treasured gems, she has 
poured out the fairest here. 

April 21. — The floor in the dining-room is laid. The windows 
are in. The door between the rooms is taken away and the stove is 
set, with the pipe out of the window in pure pioneer fashion. The 
stove, however, will put one's ingenuity to work in using, it being 
second-hand. Having been used six months in a boarding-house, not 
most carefully, the furniture is minus; and what there is, is of un- 
known use to me. There is one large iron boiler, which would cover 
the whole front of the stove, one broken gridiron, one large dripping- 
pan, two tin boilers holding six or eight quarts, one of which, near 
the top, has a nose; the other, close to the bottom, has a spout. The 
furniture which is the minus quantity, is: iron kettles, tea-kettles, 
spider, shovel and tongs. However, we get supper, stew apples, — 
brought from Massachusetts, — and have biscuits without butter. It 
is a real Graham supper with cold water. Provisions are scarce. 1 

April 24. — We can get no butter, no syrup, no milk, no potatoes. 
There is an abundance of nothing save cheese, beef, ham, and sugar. 
We made doughnuts, and after a consultation, fried them in a two- 
quart tin upon the top of the stove. 

April 26. — A most delightful day. It seemed wicked not to gather 
new life and cull enjoyment from the bright skies and flowing prairies. 
Soon had the horse put into harness and was bounding over them. 

April 29. — We attended church. How strange everything ap- 
peared ! The hall where the meetings are held is in a two-story build- 
ing. It is simply boarded with cottonwood, and that to a person in 
this country is explanation sufficient of its whole appearance; for the 
sun here soon curls the boards, every one shrinking from every other, 
leaving large cracks between. For a desk to support the gilded 
morocco-covered Bible, sent to the Plymouth Church, a rough box 
turned endwise and standing near one end of the hall was used. The 
singers, with seraphine, were seated upon one side of the preacher, 
while upon the other side, also fronting the desk, were other seats, — 
rough boards, used until the settees are finished. All of this seemed 

1 Kansas ; Its Interior and Exterior Life, p. 38. 



£. 



EARLY SETTLEMENT 159 

rough and uncouth, and at first moment we felt that two thousand 
miles lay between us and the pleasant sanctuaries of our fathers, 
where they tread the aisles on soft carpets, listen to the Word read 
from its resting-place of richest velvet, and to the pealing organ's 
deep rich tones. But when we looked upon the pleasant faces around 
us, so familiar all in look, in manner, in attire, and the services com- 
menced with the singing of hymns learned long ago, and we heard in 
the persuasive, winning tones of the preacher, the same heavenly 
truths which will render one's life here as holy as elsewhere, let us 
so will it, we felt that New England was in our midst. We realized 
more fully the truth which has been pervading our thoughts for many 
days, that " A man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the 
things which he possesseth." Happiness does not consist in the fur- 
nishings of the upholsterer. It may be as pure and unalloyed in 
" gyP sv nu ^ as palace hall." Most of us have come to this far-away 
land with a mission in our hearts, a mission to the dark-browed 
race, and hoping here to stay the surging tide of slavery, to place that 
barrier which utters in unmistakable language, " Thus far shalt thou 
go and no farther." This unlocks our hearts to each other, and at 
once we recognize a friend actuated by sympathies and hopes. 1 

Such are pictures of the life to which the women of the 
East came to support their husbands and brothers in a 
struggle to subdue the wilds of nature and secure freedom 
to mankind. These women cheerfully adapted themselves 
to the rude domestic life, giving courage and persistency 
to the men in the larger struggle to make Kansas free. 
They met the trying difficulties of those years in the bold 
and faithful spirit represented in the following lines from 
Mrs. Robinson: 

" We have fallen upon evil times in our country's history, when 
it is treason to think, to speak a word against the evil of slavery, 
or in favor of free labor. 2 In Kansas, prisons or instant death by 
barbarians are the reward; and in the Senate, wielders of bludgeons 
are honored by the State which has sent ruffians to desolate Kansas. 

1 Kansas, p. 41. 2 Kanaaa, p. 347. 



160 LIFE OF CHAB1.ES BOBINSON 

But in this reign of misrule the President and his advisers have 
failed to note the true effect of such oppression. The fires of liberty 
have been rekindled in the hearts of our people, and burn in yet 
brighter flame under midnight skies illumined by their own burning 
dwellings. The sight of lawless, ruthless invaders, acting under the 
United States Government, has filled them with that ' deep, dark, 
sullen, teeth-clenched silence, bespeaking their hatred of tyranny, 
which armed a William Tell and Charlotte Corday.' The best, the 
boldest utterance of man's spirit for freedom will not be withheld. 
The administration, with the most insane malignity, has prepared the 
way for a civil war, and the extermination of freemen in Kansas. 
With untiring malice, it has endeavored to effect this by the aid of 
a corrupt judiciary, packed juries, and reckless officials. In violation 
of the Constitution of the United States, no regard was paid to the 
sacred rights of freemen in their persons and property. Against the 
known sentiment and conviction of half the nation these deeds of 
infamy have been plotted, and have been diligently carried on. That 
a people are down-trodden is not evidence that they are subdued. 
The crushed energies are gathering strength; and, like a strong man 
resting from the heats and toils of the day, the people of Kansas will 
arise to do battle for liberty; and when their mighty shouts for free- 
dom shall ascend over her hills and prairies, slavery will shrink back 
abashed. Life, without liberty, is valueless, and there are times 
which demand the noble sacrifice of life. The people of Kansas are 
in the midst of such times; and amid discomfiture and defeat men 
will be found who for the right will stand with sterner purpose and 
bolder front. Kansas will never be surrendered to the slave-power. 
God has willed it! Lawrence, the city where the plunderer feasted 
at the hospitable table, and, Judas-like, went out to betray it, will 
come forth from its early burial clothed with yet more exceeding 
beauty. Out of its charred and blood-stained ruins, where the flag of 
rapine floated, will spring the high walls and strong parapets of 
freedom. The sad tragedies in Kansas will be avenged, when freedom 
of speech, of the press, and of the person, are made sure by the down- 
fall of those now in power, and when the song of the reaper is heard 
again over our prairies, and, instead of the clashing of arms, we see 
the gleam of the ploughshare in her peaceful valleys. Men of the 
North, shall the brave hearts in Kansas struggle alone?" 

Soon after the Wakarusa War, Dr. Bobinson wrote to 



EARLY SETTLEMENT 161 

John C. Fremont, reminding him of their early acquaint- 
ance in California, and pointing out the similarity of 
situation here in Kansas to that of California at that time 
in regard to the slavery question. Fremont was then con- 
sidering the probability of his nomination for President. 
While it may not be that he was seeking the place, yet 
enough had been said about the possibility of his being 
nominated to cause anxiety on his part at the turn affairs 
had taken, and to make him exceedingly careful in the ex- 
pression of his opinions as to the proper solution of the 
Kansas troubles. Robinson's letter would prove of inter- 
est to the reader, but it is not obtainable. It is thought 
worth while, however, to publish Fremont's reply. It 
shows some conception on Fremont's part of the national 
importance of the situation in Kansas, yet one cannot but 
note the extreme caution of the writer at this juncture of 
national politics : 

Xew York, 176 Second Avenue, March 17, 1856. 
My Dear Sir : Your letter of February reached me in Washington 
some time since. I read it with much satisfaction. It was a great 
pleasure to find that you retained so lively a recollection of our inter- 
course in California. But my own experience is, that permanent and 
valuable friendships are most often formed in contests and struggles. 
If a man has good points, then they become salient, and we know 
each other suddenly. 

I had both been thinking and speaking of you latterly. The Banks 
balloting in the House and your movements in Kansas had naturally 
carried my mind back to our one hundred and forty ballots in Cali- 
fornia, and your letter came seasonably and fitly to complete the 
connection. We were defeated then, but that contest was only an in- 
cident in a great struggle, and the victory was deferred, not lost. 
You have carried to another field the same principle, with courage 
and ability to maintain it; and I make you my sincere congratulations 
en your success, — indistinct so far, but destined in the end to 
triumph absolutely. 
— 11 



162 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

I had been waiting to see what shape the Kansas question would 
take in Congress, that I might be enabled to give you some views in 
relation to the probable result. Nothing yet has been accomplished ; 
but I am satisfied that in the end Congress will take efficient meas- 
ures to lay before the American people the exact truth concerning 
your affairs. Neither you nor I can have any doubt what verdict the 
people will pronounce, upon a truthful exposition. It is to be feared, 
from the Proclamation of the President, that he intends to recognize 
the usurpation in Kansas as the legitimate government, and that its 
sedition law, the test oath, and the means to be taken to expel its 
people as aliens, will all directly or indirectly be supported by the 
arnry of the United States. Your position will undoubtedly be diffi- 
cult, but you know I have great confidence in your firmness and 
prudence. When the critical moment arrives, you must act for your- 
self — no man can give you counsel. A true man will always find his 
best counsel in that inspiration which a good cause never fails to give 
him at the instant of trial. All history teaches us that great results 
are ruled by a wise Providence, and we are but units in the great 
plan. Your action will be determined by events as they present 
themselves, and at this distance I can only say that I sympathize 
cordially with you ; and that as you stood by me firmly and generously 
when we were defeated by the Nullifiers in California, I have every 
disposition to stand by you in the same way in your battle with 
them in Kansas. 

You see that what I have been saying is more in reply to the sug- 
gestions which your condition makes to me, than any answer to your 
letter, which more particularly regards myself. The notice which you 
had seen of me, in connection with the Presidency, came from the 
partial disposition of friends, who think of me more flatteringly 
than I do of myself; and does not, therefore, call for any action 
from us. 

Repeating that I am really and sincerely gratified in the renewal 
of our old friendship, or rather in the expression of it, which I hope 
will not hereafter have so long an interval, I am, 

Yours very truly, 

J. C. Fremont. 

Gov. Charles Robinson, Lawrence, Kansas. 

The year 1855 closed with, the stirring events connected 
with the Wakarusa War. In the local contests the Free- 



EARLY SETTLEMENT 163 

State men had won a victory. They had maintained their 
position against superior numbers without an open con- 
flict with the Federal authority. They had demonstrated 
their power and established a hope, if not an assurance, 
of victory. But the ensuing year was to bring a severer 
trial of their strength and fortitude. Their enemies were 
to shift their plan of battle and to employ new tactics for 
their destruction. The attempt to drive the friends of free- 
dom from the soil had failed, and other means must be 
sought if Kansas was to be made a slave State. 

While the local struggles were going on, the Free-State 
men were not idle in other directions, for they were work- 
ing their way toward State organization and admission 
into the Union. They were holding conventions, resolv- 
ing, and organizing. They even went so far as to make a 
constitution, elect State officers, and attempt State legis- 
lation. As the constitutional development was the central 
idea of the struggle from this on, it will be necessary to 
follow somewhat in detail the various steps in the organi- 
zation of the Free-State forces and the consequent attacks 
of the Proslavery advocates. 



164 LIFE OF CHARLES KOBINSON 



CHAPTER V. 

THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE. 

Beginning with the first meeting called in Lawrence, 
June 8th, 1855, the Free-State men of Kansas entered 
upon a constitutional struggle for liberty. This first con- 
vention was held for the purpose of considering the pro- 
priety of calling a Territorial convention of Free-State 
men. At this meeting, M. F. Conway, the only Free-State 
man in the Legislature, 1 who resigned his position as soon 
as the Legislature was called, made some able and spirited 
remarks about the recent election, and advised that the 
action of the Legislature thus fraudulently chosen be re- 
pudiated, and that Congress be memorialized for relief. 
The meeting was presided over by John Speer, and ad- 
dresses were listened to from Speer, Simpson, Ladd, 
Hutchinson, Elliott, and others. It was proposed to call 
a Territorial convention at Lawrence on the 25th of June, 
1855, for the purpose of giving expression to the views of 
the people in relation to the recent election outrage, 2 and 
of taking such action as was deemed necessary and proper. 
Five delegates were to be sent from each Representative 
district: Elliott, Deitzler, Speer, Wood and Simpson 
were chosen to represent Lawrence. A committee com- 
posed of Pratt, Elliott and Abbott were to inform the Free- 

1 Con-way did not receive a majority of the votes cast, but one fraudulent precinct 
was thrown out ; this gave Conway a majority. S. D. Houston was the only member 
conceded to be elected from the Free-State party. He resigned. John Hutchinson 
was elected at the new election called by the Governor to correct fraud, but he was not 
allowed to take his seat. 

2 See Chapter IV. 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 165 

State men of other districts. The convention assembled 
according to the call, and adopted among others the follow- 
ing resolutions: 

"Resolved, That we are in favor of making Kansas a free Terri- 
tory, and, as a consequence, a free State. 

"Resolved, That we urge the people of Kansas to throw aside all 
minor differences, and make the freedom of Kansas the only issue. 

"Resolved, That we claim no right to meddle with the affairs of 
the people of Missouri, or any other State, and we do claim the right 
to regulate our own domestic affairs, and, with the help of God, we 
will do it. 

"Resolved, That we look upon the conduct of a portion of the 
people of Missouri, in the late Kansas election, as an outrage on the 
elective franchise of our rights as freemen; and inasmuch as many 
of the members of the Legislature owe their election to a combined 
system of force and fraud, we do not feel bound to obey any law of 
their enacting.'' 

A mass meeting was called to meet at Lawrence July 
11, 1855, to take active measures respecting the forming of 
a State constitution. While the determination to repu- 
diate the acts of the bogus Legislature was pretty well 
fixed, it was difficult to get the Free-State men in line for 
the formation of a State constitution with the view of the 
speedy admission of Kansas into the Union. The poli- 
ticians, most of whom were seeking opportunities for office, 
had advised this course, but the body of the people and the 
leaders of the Free-State cause were not fully in accord 
with the politicians. But if the people repudiated the 
acts of the Territorial Legislature, nothing would remain 
to be done but to set up another form of government in 
opposition. Hence the Free-State sentiment gradually 
crystallized in favor of a constitution. 

It was on August 14th and 15th, 1855, that the first 
general convention of Free-State men, composed of all po- 



166 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

litical parties, assembled at Lawrence. Philip Schuyler 
presided at the meeting, and Lane, Robinson and others 
were active in the deliberations of the convention. The 
following resolutions reported by Robinson were adopted : 

''Whereas, The people of Kansas have been, since its settlement, 
and are now, without law-making power; therefore, be it 

"Resolved, That we, the people of Kansas Territory, in mass 
meeting assembled, irrespective of party distinctions, influenced by 
common necessity, and greatly desirous of promoting the common 
good, do hereby call upon and request all bona fide citizens of Kansas 
Territory, of whatever political views and predilections, to consult 
together in their several election districts, and in mass conventions 
or otherwise, elect three delegates for each Kepresentative to which 
said election district is entitled in the House of Representatives of the 
Legislative Assembly, by proclamation of Governor Reeder of date of 
March 19, 1855; said convention to meet in the town of Topeka, on 
the 19th day of September, 1855, then and there to consider and de- 
termine upon all subjects of public interest, and particularly upon 
that having reference to the speedy formation of a State Constitution, 
with the intention of an immediate application to be admitted as a 
State into the Union of the United States of America." 

This convention showed an active spirit along govern- 
mental lines, for if the Free- State men could make a con- 
stitution, have it adopted by popular vote, and have Kansas 
admitted into the Union under it, the victory was practi- 
cally won. Although the meeting at Topeka was to occur 
within a little more than thirty days, another convention 
was called, to meet at Big Springs on September 5, 1855. 
It appears from the sequel that this convention was called 
for the purpose of organizing a Free- State party, while the 
convention at Lawrence was rather general in its nature. 
Eefore adjournment a Free- State executive committee 
was formed, consisting of Charles Robinson, chairman, 
Joel K. Goodin, secretary, and twenty-one other members. 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 167 

The object of this committee was to have a general over- 
sight of all the interests pertaining to the Free-State party. 
The permanent organization effected at Big Springs, by 
outlining a definite policy and completing an organization 
for specific party work, lessened the labor of this committee, 
although its members continued active in various capacities. 
While the sentiments of the Free- State people were crys- 
tallizing about lines of action, the ''bogus" Legislature 
had assembled and begun its work. If anyone prior to its 
meeting could have found anything to say in defense of 
this Legislature, he could have found nothing to say in its 
favor after it had done its work. It met on July 2, 1855, 
at Pawnee, but in four days — July 6th — adjourned to 
meet at Shawnee Mission, near the border of Missouri, on 
August 16th. The first action it took at Pawnee before 
adjournment was to declare that the men chosen at the 
second election, in place of such of those as were fraudu- 
lently elected in the March election, should be excluded 
from the Legislature; that is, the members who were 
fraudulently elected in March were seated and those who 
were elected to fill their places by order of the second elec- 
tion proclamation of Governor Reeder were not allowed 
to take their places. Governor Reeder vigorously opposed 
the movement of the Legislature from Pawnee to Shawnee 
Mission, and although he could not openly and clearly 
adopt the policy of the Free-State men and repudiate the 
Legislature which was elected at his own calling, yet he 
sympathized with the Free- State movement, and was, from 
this time on, a strong supporter of it. The Governor 
finally refused to recognize the Legislature, and now the 
Federal administration at Washinarton had to side with 



168 LIFE OF CHARLES BOBINSOJST 

either the Governor or the Legislature. The whole Pro- 
slavery element desired to have Governor Reeder recalled. 
If the Government should decide in favor of the Legisla- 
ture, there could be no other alternative. Accordingly, 
Governor Reeder was finally recalled, the Legislature re- 
ceiving official communication to this effect on August 
16th, 1855. 

The "bogus" Legislature proceeded at once to make 
laws for the Territory. They made voluminous statutes 
based on the Missouri code ; in fact, most of their legisla- 
tion was a mere copy of the laws of Missouri. When 
it became known what the Legislature had done, and what 
kind of laws they had enacted, a great wave of indignation 
passed over the Territory, which was most beneficial to 
the Free-State cause. The laws enacted were so severe, 
inhuman, and extremely partisan, that it was impossible 
for anyone with liberal views to feel any tolerance for 
them. Writing of these laws, Governor Robinson said : 

" Not cnly was the worse than Draconian code enacted against 
Free-State men, but they were virtually disfranchised. Instead of 
leaving the choice of county officers to voters, the Legislature itself 
appointed them for a term of years, and gave them full control of all 
future elections, besides requiring a test oath of a challenged voter. 
Many of the enactments were simply infamous, as some selected speci- 
mens will show." x 

" Section 4. If any person shall entice, decoy, or carry away 
out of the Territory, any slave belonging to another, with intent to 
deprive the owner thereof of the services of such slave, or with the 
intent to effect or procure the freedom of such slave, he shall be 
adjudged guilty of grand larceny, and on conviction thereof shall 
suffer death. 

" Section 5. If any person shall aid or assist in enticing, de- 
coying or persuading, or carrying away or sending out of this Terri- 
tory any slave belonging to another, with intent to procure or effect 

Conflict, p. 156. 



THE COXSTITUTIOXAL STRUGGLE 169 

the freedom of such slave, or with intent to deprive the owner thereof 
of the services of such slave, he shall be adjudged guilty of grand 
larceny, and on conviction thereof, suffer death. 

" Section 6. If any person shall entice, decoy, or carry away out 
of any State or other territory of the United States, any slave belong- 
ing to another, with the intent to procure or effect the freedom of such 
slave, or deprive the owner thereof of the services of such slave, and 
shall bring such slave into this Territory, he shall be adjudged guilty 
of grand larceny, in the same manner as if such slave had been enticed, 
decoyed or carried out of this Territory; and in such ease the larceny 
may be charged to have been committed in any county of this Terri- 
tory into or through which such slave shall have been brought by such 
person: and on conviction thereof the person offending shall suffer 
death.'' 

" Section 11. If any person print, write, introduce into, publish or 
circulate, or cause to be brought into, printed, written, published or 
circulated, or shall knowingly aid or assist in bringing into, printing, 
publishing or circulating within this Territory, any book, magazine, 
handbill, or circular containing any statements, arguments, opinions, 
sentiments, doctrine, advice or innuendo, calculated to promote a dis- 
orderly, dangerous, or rebellious disaffection among the slaves in this 
Territory, or to induce such slaves to escape from their masters, or to 
resist their authority, he shall be guilty of felony, and be punished by 
imprisonment and hard labor for a term not less than five years. 

" Section 12. If any free person, by speaking or by writing, 
assert or maintain that persons have not the right to hold slaves in 
this Territory, or shall introduce into this Territory, print, publish, 
write, circulate, or cause to be introduced into this Territory, written, 
printed, published, or circulated in this Territory, any book, paper, 
magazine, pamphlet or circular, containing any denial of the right of 
persons to hold slaves in this Territory, such person shall be deemed 
guilty of felony, and be punished by imprisonment at hard labor for 
a term of not less than two years."' * 

These drastic measures passed by the first Territorial 
Legislature — a Legislature whose members were elected by 
fraud — defined clearly to the people of Kansas and to those 
of other States the true position of those who sought to 
make Kansas a slave State. Contrary to an express stipu- 
lation of the organic act for the creation of the Territory, 
which declared that the Javery question was left open to 
the decision of the people within the Territory, this fraud- 
ulent legislature not only asserted that the question was not 

1 Territorial Laws, 1865. WLldar's Annals, p. 73. 



170 LIFE OF CHABLES BOBINSOST 

open for discussion, but proposed to send every man to the 
penitentiary who did open it. 

The Free-State party had resolved to ignore the action 
of the first Territorial Legislature, and to repudiate its 
laws. Through the influence of Dr. Robinson and Col. 
Kersey Coates, of Kansas City, Conway, the only Free- 
State man in the Legislature, resigned. The brilliant let- 
ter in which Conway submitted his resignation gave a clear 
statement of the case and cause of the Free-State men at 
this time. He said: 

" Instead of recognizing this as the Legislature of Kansas, and 
participating in the proceedings as such, I utterly repudiate it, and re- 
pudiate it as derogatory to the respectability of popular government, 
and insulting to the virtue and intelligence of the age. . . . Simply 
as a citizen and a man, I shall therefore yield no submission to this 
alien Legislature. On the contrary, I am ready to set its assumed 
authority at defiance, and shall be prompt to spurn and trample under 
my feet its insolent enactments whenever they conflict with my rights 
or inclinations." * 

The Fourth of July address of Eobinson, previously 
quoted, had heralded the same sentiment in no uncertain 
sound. " Let us repudiate all laws made by foreign leg- 
islative bodies," 2 was the significant point of his argument 
and watchword of future policy. 

In his letter to Amos A. Lawrence, dated November 1, 
1855, Dr. Robinson again committed himself to the doc- 
trine of repudiation, and acknowledged that he was abiding 
by the text of his doctrine in his daily conduct. He said : 

" We must be as independent and self-reliant and confident as the 
Missourians are, and never in any instance be cowed into silence or 

1 Spring, p. 54. 

2 See Chapter IV, and Appendix B. 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 171 

subserviency to their dictation. This course on the part of prominent 
Free-State men is absolutely necessary to inspire the masses with 
confidence and keep them from going over to the enemy. ... I 
have been censured for the defiant tone of my Fourth of July speech, 
but I was fully convinced that such a course was demanded. The Leg- 
islature was about sitting, and Free-State men were about despair- 
ing. ... A few of us dared to take a position in defiance of the 
Legislature, and meet the consequences. We were convinced that 
our success depended upon this measure, and the demonstration of the 
Fourth was to set the ball in motion in connection with Conway's 
letter to Governor Reeder, resigning his seat and repudiating the 
Legislature. For a while we had to contend with opposition from the 
faint-hearted, but by persevering in our course, by introducing reso- 
lutions into conventions and canvassing the Territory, repudiation 
became universal with Free-State men. . . . We conceived it im- 
portant to disown the Legislature, if at all, before we knew the char- 
acter of its laws, believing that they would be such as to crush us 
out, if recognized as valid, and believing that we should stand on 
stronger ground if we came out in advance." * 

It is plain from the foregoing statements, that Dr. 
Robinson, if not the originator of the idea of repudiation, 
was the one who made the doctrine living and effective. 
In the meeting at Lawrence on June 8th, Conway in a 
speech advocated repudiation, although this was not its 
first mention. 2 In the Lawrence convention of July 11, 
says G. W. Brown, "the expression was unanimous for 
repudiation." It was at this time that the idea of forming 
a State Government was first made prominent. 3 In the 
controversy as to who was the author of the policy of re- 
pudiation, Governor Robinson in his letter to the Herald 
states : " With reference to repudiation, I am of the opin- 
ion that the disposition was spontaneous in the breast of 

1 Spring : Kansas, pp. 61, 62. 

2 Kansas Tribune, June 13, 1856. G. W. Brown : Herald, June 28, 1884. 
s G. W. Brown : Herald, Jan. 12, 1884. 



172 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON" 

every antislavery man from the first. I think Conway 
needed no persuasion to repudiation." Notwithstanding 
this modest statement, through agitation by speech and pen 
this sentiment was kept alive by Robinson. Conway stated 
that Governor Robinson and George W. Deitzler persuaded 
him to resign, although afterward he seemed inclined to 
believe that he did it on his own responsibility. Prob- 
ably, as Governor Robinson says, he required little persua- 
sion. In his University Quarter-Centennial address Gov- 
ernor Robinson said : " The policy of the Free-State party 
was to do no wrong, commit no crime, and make the Ter- 
ritorial laws a dead letter by non-use, until the next gen- 
eral election of 1857." x 

His letters in the " Man and the Hour " series present 
the same thought. He says : " Not only the usurpation 
must be repudiated, but arms, and the best that could be 
had, were an absolute necessity for the Free-State settler." 2 
Speaking of the Free-State party and their policy, he said : 
" They were on their good behavior, could do no wrong, 
commit no crime, and must be a law unto themselves, 
while they repudiated the so-called Territorial Legislature 
with its encroachments." 3 

Many persons condemned Governor Reeder for issuing 
election certificates where it was evident that fraud ex- 
isted. They desired him to throw out the returns of the 
entire Territory and order a new election. But it was 
a difficult matter to obtain evidence of fraud. The ma- 
chinery of government was not well established, the courts 
were not organized, and consequently when men swore 

1 Kansas City Times, June 9, 1891. 

2 Kansas Herald, February 13, 1884. 

3 Ibid. 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STKTJGGEE 173 

that they were citizens of Kansas there was no one to chal- 
lenge their statements. Indeed, there were not sufficient 
men to do the challenging, and there was no method of test- 
ing any case afterward. It is true that Governor Keeder 
did cause a new election to take place in several districts, 
but even this did no good, for the Legislature seated the 
members elected on the first election and refused seats to 
those subsequently elected. The truth of the matter is that 
this Legislature simply owed its existence to usurpation 
and fraud, and the patriots of Kansas did well to repudiate 
it. It must be remembered, however, that at this time 
the Proslavery element was in the majority, and it was 
therefore necessary for the Free-State men to act with 
prudence. Had there been a fair election, it is probable 
that the Proslavery party would have won. By keeping 
up a firm and patient but temperate and orderly opposi- 
tion, the Free-State men might well hope that a time would 
soon come when they could win. 

While the convention held at Lawrence August 14th and 
15th had given expression to the leading sentiments then 
prevailing among the Free-State people, it bad been non- 
partisan, being composed of several political elements. It 
had called for a non-partisan meeting at Topeka to frame 
a constitution and to apply for admission into the Union. 
But at the convention at Big Springs the Free-State party 
was politically organized. It was then that the principles 
and policy of the Free-State party were formally declared 
in a party platform, and the party machinery set in motion. 

At this convention George W. Smith was elected presi- 
dent. The resolutions were presented by James H. Lane 
and adopted by the convention, and a series of supplemen- 



174 LIFE OF CHABLES EOBHSTSON 

tary resolutions were presented by J. S. Emery. " This 
was an important convention. It gave to the world the 
purposes, designs, and hopes of the Free-State party." x 
It appears from the statement of James F. Legate that 
Joel K. Goodin was the chief factor; in fact, the great 
spirit of this meeting. He was the power in the executive 
committee that ran the convention. Goodin was subse- 
quently prominent in the convention held in 1855 at To- 
peka, and also in the convention at Grasshopper Falls, and 
finally became Secretary of the Council in the Free-State 
Territorial Legislature. Gov. Reeder also figured con- 
spicuously in this Big Springs convention. He drew up 
the report of the Territorial Legislature, which was re- 
ported by J. S. Emery, chairman of this convention. 

The following are among the most important resolu- 
tions adopted: 

"Resolved, That we owe no allegiance or obedience to the tyrannical 
enactments of this spurious Legislature; that their laws have no 
validity or binding force upon the people of Kansas, and that every 
freeman among us is at full liberty, consistently with all his obliga- 
tions as a citizen and a man, to defy and resist them, if he chooses 
so to do. 

"Resolved, That we will resist them primarily with every peace- 
able and legal means within our power, until we can elect our own 
Representatives and sweep them from the statute book; and as the 
majority of our Supreme Court have so forgotten their official duty — 
have so far cast off the honor of the lawyer and the dignity of the 
judge — as to enter clothed with the judicial ermine into partisan 
contest, and, by an extra-judicial decision giving opinions in violation 
of all propriety, have prejudiced our case before we could be heard, 
and have pledged themselves to these outlaws in advance, to decide 
in their favor, we shall therefore take measures to carry the question 
of the validity of these laws to a higher tribunal, where judges are 

1 J. F. Legate : Sixth Biennial Report, State Historical Society, p. 273. 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 175 

unpledged and dispassionate, where the law will be administered in 
its purity, and where we can at least have the hearing before the 
decision. 

"Resolved, That we will endure and submit to these laws no longer 
than the best interests of the Territory require, as the less of two 
evils, and will resist them to a bloody issue as soon as we ascertain 
that peaceable remedies shall fail, and forcible resistance shall fur- 
nish any reasonable prospect of success; and that in the mean time 
we recommend to our friends throughout the Territory the organiza- 
tion of volunteer companies and the procurement and preparation 
of arms. 

"Resolved, That we cannot, and will not, quietly submit to sur- 
render our great 'American birthright,' the elective franchise; which 
first by violence, and then by chicanery, artifice, weak and wicked 
legislation, they have so effectively succeeded in depriving us of, 
and that with scorn we repudiate the ' election law/ so called, and 
will not meet with them on the day they have appointed for the 
election, but will ourselves fix upon a day, for the purpose of elect- 
ing a Delegate to Congress." 1 

The resolutions offered by Lane, as chairman of the 
committee on platform, were adopted, as follows : 

"Whereas, The Free-State party of the Territory of Kansas is 
about to originate an organization for concert of political action in 
electing our own officers and moulding our institutions; and 

"Whereas, It is expedient and necessary that a platform of prin- 
ciples be adopted and proclaimed to make known the character of our 
organization, and to test the qualifications of candidates and the 
fidelity of our members; and 

"Whereas, We find ourselves in an unparalleled and critical con- 
dition — deprived by superior force of the rights guaranteed by the 
Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States, 
and the Kansas Bill; and 

"Whereas, The great and overshadowing question, whether Kansas 
shall become a Free or Slave State, must inevitably absorb all other 
issues, except those inseparably connected with it; and 

"Whereas, The crisis demands the concert and harmonious action 
of ail those who from principle or interest prefer free to slave labor, 

1 Robinson : Kansas Conflict, pp. 171, 172. 



176 LIFE OF CHAELES BOBIN'SON" 

as well as those who value the preservation of the Union, and the 
guarantee of republican institutions by the Constitution: therefore, 

"Resolved, That, setting aside all the minor issues of partisan 
politics, it is incumbent upon us to proffer an organization calculated 
to recover our dearest rights, and into which Democrats and Whigs, 
native and naturalized citizens, may freely enter without any sacrifice 
of their respective political creeds, but without forcing them as a 
test upon others. And that when we shall have achieved our politi- 
cal freedom, vindicated our right of self-government, and become an 
independent State of the Union, when these issues may become vital 
as they are now dormant, it will be time enough to divide our or- 
ganization by these tests, the importance of which we fully recognize 
in their appropriate sphere. 

"Resolved, That we will oppose and resist all non-resident voters 
at our polls, whether from Missouri or elsewhere, as a gross violation 
of our rights and a virtual disfranchisement of our citizens. 

"Resolved, That our true interests, socially, morally and pe- 
cuniarily, require that Kansas should be a free State; and that free 
labor will best promote the happiness, the rapid population, the pros- 
perity and wealth of our people; that slave labor is a curse to the 
master and to the community, if not to the slave; that our country 
is unsuited to it, and that we will devote our energies as a party to 
exclude the institution, and to secure for Kansas the constitution of 
a free State. 

"Resolved, That the best interests of Kansas require a popula- 
tion of free white men, and that in the organization we are in favor of 
stringent laws excluding all negroes, bond or free, from the Terri- 
tory; that nevertheless such measures shall not be regarded as a test 
of party orthodoxy. 

"Resolved, That the stale and ridiculous charge of Abolitionism, 
so industriously imputed to the Free-State party, and so persistently 
adhered to in spite of all the evidence to the contrary, is without a 
shadow of truth to support it, and that it is not more appropriate to 
ourselves than it is to our opponents, who use it as a term of re- 
proach, to bring odium upon us, pretending to believe in its truth, 
and hoping to frighten from our ranks the weak and timid, who are 
more willing to desert their principles than they are to stand up 
under persecution and abuse, with a consciousness of right. 

"Resolved, That we will discountenance and denounce any at- 
tempt to encroach upon the constitutional rights of the people of 



~ ... 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 177 

any State, or to inferfere with their slaves; conceding to their citi- 
zens the right to regulate their own institutions, and to hold and 
recover their slaves, without any molestation or obstruction from 
the people of Kansas." 1 

The platform was faithfully subscribed to by the Free- 
State men with one exception, that of Charles Stearns, the 
Garrisonian, who was a thorough Abolitionist, he refusing 
to sign the resolutions. 

The Big Springs convention nominated A. H. Reeder 
candidate for Delegate to Congress, and fixed the election 
day for said Delegate on the second Tuesday in October. 
By a resolution introduced by John Hutchinson the con- 
vention indorsed the action of the " people's convention," 
held at Lawrence on the 14th and 15th of August, calling 
for a delegate convention to assemble at Topeka on Sep- 
tember 19th to frame a constitution. 2 

The Big Springs convention was a serious attempt to 
organize all the elements of political belief, including 
Whigs, Democrats, Free-Soilers, etc., on a common Free- 
State basis in opposition to the Proslavery element in 
Kansas, which had the favor of the Federal Government 
and the especial support of the people of Missouri and of 
other Southern States. In constructing the platform the 
convention was desirous of making it broad enough for all 
to stand upon who were opposed to usurpation and fraud 
as practiced in the elections and exhibited in the "bogus 
laws" of the Territory. 

While the convention was making the platform for the 
Free-State party it became evident in many ways that 
there were not a few discordant elements to be harmo- 

1 Wilder : Aanale of Kansas, pp. 75, 76. 

2 Ibid, p. 77. 

— 12 



178 LIFE OF CHAKLES ROBINSON 

nized before the party was thoroughly organized. More- 
over, although the convention gave form and purpose to the 
Free-State movement, it is not at all certain that the latter 
would not have flourished quite as well had the convention 
never been called. As regards the slavery question, the 
attitude of the leaders of the party finally changed from 
conservative to radical, and it might have been as well for 
them to have saved their lengthy resolutions until they were 
thoroughly agreed as to abolitionism and the black man. 
Ostensibly called for the purpose of " constructing a na- 
tional platform upon which all friends of making Kansas 
a free State may act in concert," the convention appears 
to have been chiefly characterized by the general attempt 
at harmonizing political factions, and by the struggles of 
individuals for political power. The position which this 
convention took regarding the general question of slavery 
was an embarrassing one to many members of the con- 
vention ; for every other Free- State meeting and conven- 
tion had favored freedom, and the present one was in a 
measure committed to the same idea. Yet the convention 
declared openly against the abolitionists and the negro. 
This was supposed to be a popular act at this time. It 
was thought by thus showing liberality, certain elements 
of the Democratic party might be induced to take a place 
in the State organization along with the Free-State men. 
It is interesting to note that this discrimination against 
the negro continued throughout the entire Free-State move- 
ment, and appears in the Wyandotte Constitution, finally 
adopted as the State Constitution. This is evidence of 
the insincerity of a certain political element that trained 
with the Free-State party. Viewed from the standpoint 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 179 

of the opposition, every member of the Big Springs con- 
vention was an abolitionist. 

A majority of the convention voted to exclude the black 
man from Kansas, both bond and free, still proclaiming 
their vows to make Kansas a free State. The repeal of the 
Missouri Compromise and the enactment of the Douglas 
Bill proclaimed that the Territory should be open to occu- 
pation, and the settlement of the slavery question deter- 
mined by the citizens of the new Territory. To exclude 
the black man from Kansas, both bond and free, was in a 
measure a violation of the spirit of the Douglas bill. 

The hostility of the convention to freedom for the negro 
appears to have been due to the influence of leading Demo- 
crats like Lane, Keeder, and Emery, who hoped in this way 
to hold on to the old Democratic party, then in power, 
with the vain expectation that that party would favor them 
in the establishment of a State and the adoption of a State 
constitution. But the attempt to placate the dominant 
power ended in a miserable failure, and these same vigor- 
ous Democrats finally severed their connections with the 
Democratic party and adhered strictly to the Free-State 
cause. 

The same element appeared in the Topeka Convention, 
and by adopting an article in favor of "squatter sover- 
eignty," thought to gain favor at Washington. It was a 
case in which the wise planning of the politicians failed, 
and the persistent actions of the rank and file of the Free- 
State men prevailed, because they were more in accord 
with the course of events. Thus did the Free-State cause 
outlive its own inconsistencies, thrust upon it by politi- 
cians who saw through a glass darkly. 



180 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

Ex-Governor Reeder took an active part in the conven- 
tion, for since his difficulty with the Federal-Democratic 
party he had become a rabid opponent to the Territorial 
Government, and openly repudiated the Legislature and 
the "bogus" laws. As stated before, he was nominated 
by this convention as the Tree- State candidate for Terri- 
torial Delegate to the Thirty-fourth Congress. This elec- 
tion came about as ordered — on the 9th of October, 1855. 
As the Proslavery people failed to vote, Mr. Reeder re- 
ceived a large majority of all the votes cast by members 
of the Free- State party. But Reeder' s opponent, J. W. 
Whitfield, was elected by the Proslavery party as Delegate 
to the same Congress, the Free-State men refusing to vote 
at his election. Hence, there were two persons elected to 
the same office, — one by the Free-State men and the other 
by the Proslavery faction. Whitfield received a certifi- 
cate of election from the Territorial Government, but 
Reeder received none. Whereupon Reeder entered into 
a contest for his seat in Congress, which, though it failed, 
gave no little annoyance to his opponent, Whitfield. 

The convention which met at Topeka on September 
19th, called to take measures to frame a Free-State consti- 
tution, accomplished little more than to organize and ap- 
point committees. W. Y. Roberts was chosen president, 
and J. A. Wakefield, P. C. Schuyler, L. P. Lincoln, J. K. 
Goodin, S. N. Latta and R. H. Phelan were chosen vice- 
presidents. The secretaries were E. D. Ladd, J. H. ~Nes- 
bitt, and Mark W. Delahay. A committee of nineteen 
" on address to the people " was appointed, with J. H. 
Lane as chairman ; also a Territorial executive committee 
was appointed, composed of J. H. Lane, chairman, C. K. 
Holliday, M. J. Parrott, P. C. Schuyler, G. W. Smith, 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 181 

G. W. Brown, and J. K. Goodin, secretary. 1 After fix- 
ing the date of October 1st for the election of the delegates 
to the constitutional convention, the convention adjourned. 
It will be noticed that J. K. Goodin, secretary of the latter 
committee, was also secretary of a committee previously 
appointed to superintend the affairs of the party, called 
the Free-State Territorial Committee, of which Charles 
Robinson was chairman". The judicious counsel and clear 
judgment of Goodin as secretary of this and other impor- 
tant committees was of the greatest value to the Free-State 
cause. 

It is notable that Dr. Robinson was not chosen a dele- 
gate either to the Big Springs convention or to the delegate 
convention at Topeka. There appears to have been a con- 
certed plan to leave him out of the Big Springs convention, 
as the election of delegates was held at Blan ton's Bridge, 
some distance from Lawrence, and Dr. Robinson and his 
friends from Lawrence were not elected. It is known that 
he attended the Big Springs convention. Whether his 
counsel was influential in the deliberations of these bodies 
is not known. On the other hand, James H. Lane was a 
strong spirit in each convention; and Reeder, as already 
indicated, was prominent in the Big Springs convention. 
But both were office-seekers at the time, and this fact would 
lead us to infer that there was a considerable display of 
political ambition on the part of several members ; which, 
indeed, is not surprising. But Dr. Robinson again ap- 
pears, after the Topeka Convention, as the chairman of the 
Free-State Executive Committee to look after the general 

1 Lane was a Democrat from Indiana ; G. W. Smith, formerly a Whig in Pennsyl- 
vania, acted with the Democrats in the Topeka Convention ; Schuyler was from New 
York ; J. K. Goodin and M. 3. Parrott from Ohio ; and G. W. Brown, G. W. Smith and 
C. K. Holliday from Pennsylvania. 



182 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

welfare of the Free-State cause throughout the Territory. 
In the mean time, J. H. Lane appears as chairman of the 
committee on an address to the people, and also as chair- 
man of the Territorial Executive Committee, — both ap- 
pointments being made by the delegate convention which 
met at Topeka to take measures to form a Free-State 
constitution. 

A large number of delegates, all representing the dif- 
ferent vocations of life, and all favorable, in a general way 
at least, to the Free-State cause, met at Topeka on October 
23d, according to the call, to frame a constitution under 
which they hoped Kansas would be admitted into the 
Union as a State. Of the persons who composed the con- 
stitutional convention, twelve were farmers, thirteen law- 
yers, two merchants, three physicians, two clergymen, one 
saddler, one mechanic, and one journalist. 1 They came 
from eleven different States of the Union, and were ad- 
herents of the Democratic, Free- Soil, Whig, Republican, 
Free-State, and Independent parties. James H. Lane 
was elected president, and in his address in taking the 
chair he outlined briefly what he thought the policy of the 
convention should be. He asserted, among other things, 
that the supporters of the Kansas-Nebraska Bill in Con- 
gress had held that Kansas would never become a slave 
State, and that the members from the South were the most 
ardent in their support of this proposition. 

Dr. Robinson appears prominent in this convention, rep- 
resenting Lawrence. While influential in the constructive 
work of the constitution, he found himself voting with the 
minority in reference to slavery and other questions. He 
was a counselor of the radical wing, which was entirely 

1 Including officers. 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STBTJGGLE 183 

outnumbered by the conservative element in the conven- 
tion. In fact, the convention was largely under the control 
of persons who composed the Big Springs convention and 
the Topeka convention. For the time being the affairs of 
the Territory were largely controlled by a group of Doug- 
las Democrats who still adhered to the Democratic party 
in power, as a matter of policy. Dr. Eobinson and his im- 
mediate followers, though of great force in the convention, 
were for the time being outnumbered and overshadowed. 
A very interesting episode occurred at this time, which 
is presented here, not because it reveals the eccentricities 
of the president of the convention, but because it reveals 
the character of Dr. Robinson by way of contrast. The 
writer asks the privilege of indulging in a long quotation 
from the " Kansas Conflict," in which a description of 
the event is given: 

" One night, after all had retired for the night in the attic of the 
Chase House, G. P. Lowry, ex-private secretary of Governor Reeder, 
appeared; said he had a challenge from Lane to fight a duel, and 
wanted Dr. Robinson to act as his second. Eobinson was of course 
indignant that the Free-State cause should be tarnished by such 
transactions, and said it must not be permitted. He utterly detested 
dueling, knew nothing of the code, and would have nothing to do 
with it. Thinking, however, that he could shame Lane out of the 
business, he went to the Garvey House attic to see Lane. There he 
found him trembling with fear, or trembling with ague, so as visibly 
to move the cot on which he lay. On being reproved for bringing a 
disgrace upon the party, he said Lowry had been repeating the 
scandal about himself and Mrs. Lindsay, and he had determined to 
put a stop to it at once and forever. Notwithstanding Lane had gone 
to Robinson's house early in the morning and begged of him to assist 
in preventing Lindsay from shooting him, and though Robinson had 
indorsed a note to effect a settlement, yet now Lane would try to make 
believe there was nothing to the matter, and he was bound to stop all 
such talk. After dwelling upon the folly of such a course, saying 



184 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

that if he should kill Lowry it would not stop the scandal nor vindi- 
cate him in public estimation, and if Lowry should kill him he would 
fare no better, Lane replied that he could do nothing about it, as 
Parrott was his second and the whole matter was in his hands. 
After saying that he had come to him not at the instance of Lowry, 
as he was anxious to fight, Robinson left the attic of Lane and re- 
turned to his own. It was concluded to accept the challenge in due 
form, and Major Robert Klotz was engaged to superintend the duel. 
The fight was to come off at eight o'clock in the morning, and the 
challenged party had nothing more to do but await developments. 
He did not wait long until a messenger appeared and wanted to 
change the hour from eight o'clock to eleven o'clock. This evidently 
was the beginning of a back-down, as the convention would be in 
session at that hour, and most likely Lane would have some friend 
posted to stop the duel. Lowry, however, accepted the change of 
time, and kept his peace. The convention opened as usual, and the 
planets retained their accustomed orbits. About half an hour before 
the fatal moment, Lane took the floor upon some unimportant ques- 
tion, and went off in one of his windy harangues. He talked up to 
the time set for the duel, when he, with great dignity and solemnity, 
closed, took his hat, and started to leave for the bloody battle-field. 
Instantly Judge Smith arose, in apparent agitation, made the an- 
nouncement that he had learned that a hostile meeting was in con- 
templation, to which some members of the convention were parties, 
and he desired ' to move the adoption of the following resolution,' 
which had been previously prepared in due form. The resolution ap- 
parently created a great sensation, and proposed to expel any member 
of the convention who would be a party to such a meeting, either as 
principal or second. Of course it was unanimously adopted, but the 
duel was not yet off. Robinson, as he was a member of the conven- 
tion, and was disposed to conform to the resolution, deputized J. F. 
Legate to ret as second in his stead. Legate was in his element, and 
demanded a fight or an ignominious back-down and apology on the 
part of Lane. It is needless to say the apology and back-down came 
to the full satisfaction of the challenged party. This was the first 
and last duel in Kansas, so far as known, although Lane had fought 
a similar duel in a similar bloodless manner when a member of Con- 
gress, and he had another afterwards with Senator Douglas, who 
charged him with forgery and lying when he presented the Topeka 
Constitution to the Senate. Lane always ..had more or less 'solicitude 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 185 

about his reputation for valor. To vindicate his record in the Mexi- 
can War he had written a pamphlet, which he brought with him to 
Kansas. No one seemed to care about such matters except himself, 
but he evidently thought much ado about his honor and courage was 
necessary to secure the confidence of the people." x 

But there was sufficient serious work for the convention 
to keep all members occupied night and day. Eighteen 
Democrats, six Whigs, four Republicans, two Free-Soilers, 
one Free-State and one Independent composed the conven- 
tion. From this group of people of widely dissenting opin- 
ions was to come a constitution in opposition to the Pro- 
slavery party, and suitable for the admission of Kansas 
into the Union (if it failed not in its purpose). The even- 
ing sessions were devoted to the discussion of a resolution 
approving of the principles of the Kansas-lSTebraska Bill. 
The Democrats supported the resolution, in their effort to 
be loyal to their party. When the convention came to a 
vote it stood seventeen to fifteen in favor of the resolution. 
In other ways strong party allegiance was displayed, and 
the sense of the majority of the members was decidedly 
against abolitionism and freedom for the slaves. 

Then followed a discussion of Section 2, Article II, 
which treated of the basis of citizenship. This section ran 
as follows : 2 " Every white male citizen and every civilized 
male Indian who has adopted the habits of a white man of 
the age of twenty-one years, and shall be, at the time of of- 
fering his vote, a citizen of the United States," etc., etc., 
" shall be deemed a qualified elector, in all the elections 
under this constitution. " On the motion to strike out the 
word "white" in this section, there were seven votes in 

1 Bobinson : Kansas Conflict, pp. 177-179. 
2 Wilder'3 Annals, pp. 90-107. 



186 LIFE OF CHARLES "ROBINSON 

favor and twenty-five against, Robinson voting in favor of 
striking out the word. 

The Constitution was completed November 11th, 1855, 
and on December 15th an election was held to adopt or re- 
ject this Constitution. There w T ere 1,731 votes for adop- 
tion and 46 against. At this same election a vote was taken 
on the exclusion of negroes and mulattoes from the State, 
and 1,278 votes were cast in favor of this exclusion to 253 
against it. There was a section in the Constitution, Arti- 
cle I, Section 6, which declared that " There shall be no 
slavery in the State, nor involuntary servitude other than 
for punishment for crime." Thus, while there was a dif- 
ference of opinion as to the exclusion of blacks from the 
soil, there was no indecision in respect to the exclusion of 
slavery. It was also declared that " JSTo indenture of any 
negro or mulatto, made and executed out of the bounds of 
the State, shall be valid within the State." 1 This was a 
very important declaration, for it made Kansas appear to 
be a refuge for escaped slaves from other States. It vir- 
tually declared that slaves brought from other States would 
be free within the proposed State of Kansas. Those who 
advocated the exclusion of the negro and mulatto, both 
bond and free, from the State, endeavored to have a clause 
inserted in the Constitution to that effect, but, failing in 
this, it w r as passed in the form of a resolution, and a vote 
was taken distinct from the vote taken on the adoption 
of the Constitution, though occurring at the same time. 
Hence, while the Constitution itself did not exclude the 
negro from the State, it was the prevailing opinion of the 
majority of the convention that it should do so, and the 

1 Article I, Section 21. 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 187 

sentiment in favor of exclusion was supported by the ma- 
jority just to the extent which it was thought to be politic. 
The foregoing statements indicate the inconsistency in 
the constitution-makers, for, in the call for the convention, 
issued by the Territorial Executive Committee, they had 
boldly asserted that — 

"Whereas, The Territorial Government as now constituted for 
Kansas has proved a failure, squatter sovereignty under its workings 
a miserable delusion, in proof of which it is only necessary to refer 
to our past history and our present deplorable condition; our ballot- 
boxes have been taken possession of by bands of armed men from 
foreign States, and our people forcibly driven therefrom; persons 
attempted to be foisted upon us as members of the so-called Legisla- 
ture, unacquainted with our wants and hostile to our best interests, 
some of them never residents of our Territory; misnamed laws 
passed, and now attempted to be enforced by the aid of citizens of 
foreign States, of the most oppressive, tyrannical, and insulting char- 
acter; the rights of suffrage taken from us; " etc. 

Notwithstanding the call declaring that " squatter sov- 
ereignty " under its workings was a miserable delusion, the 
majority of the delegates of the convention voted to uphold 
the Kansas-Nebraska Bill. While professing to make 
Kansas a free State, they had voted to exclude the negro 
from the privileges of the Constitution and the freedom of 
the State, and finally, had passed a resolution referring 
the question of the exclusion of the negro from the State to 
a vote of the people. Clearly, the socializing process 
would have to continue some time and create a more or- 
derly and definite political life, before Kansas was fit to 
become a State in the great Union of States. All this 
came with a larger population and a broader education 
of the people respecting the real situation. The rejection 



188 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

of Congress of the application for the admission of Kansas 
to the Union under the Topeka Constitution was therefore 
rather fortunate than otherwise. 

Yet the formation of the Constitution was of untold 
value to the Free-State cause. It kept together the Free- 
State forces of the Territory ; it kept all prospective office- 
holders in line with the hope of some emoluments under 
the new State Government ; it organized the rank and file. 
The movement connected with its creation prevented the 
adoption of the Lecompton Constitution and the triumph 
of the Territorial Government under Proslavery manage- 
ment. Or, as it has been clearly stated by one of the fore- 
most Kansans : " If the question be asked what useful pur- 
pose the Topeka movement subserved, the obvious answer 
is, that it served as a nucleus, a rallying-point, a bond of 
union, to the Free-State party during the most trying and 
dangerous period of our Territorial history. Without it 
the Free- State forces must have drifted, been demoralized, 
and probably beaten. The prospects of success were suf- 
ficiently flattering to supplement the Free-State cause with 
the personal ambition of a large number of able men who 
would be glad of official position under it." 1 

Having adopted the Constitution, it was necessary to 
gain the recognition of Congress and obtain admission into 
the Union before the Constitution was operative. The 
Free-State leaders, however, thought it best to proceed to 
organize and complete the State Government and elect the 
Legislature, so that, on the admission into the Union, the 
State Government would be ready to go into full opera- 

1 Hon. T. Dwighfc Thacher : Quarter-Centennial Addreas. 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 189 

tion. To do this it would be necessary to call a convention 
for the nomination of officers, and to carry on a regular 
election in all of the precincts of Kansas. In such an 
election the Free- State people could not consistently ex- 
pect the support of the Territorial Government or of its 
warm advocates. 



190 LIFE OF CHAKLES KOBINSON 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE (CONTINUED). 

The Free-State Convention was held at Lawrence, De- 
cember 15th, 1855, to nominate officers under the Topeka 
Constitution. J. H. Lane, W. Y. Roberts and G. W. 
Smith were avowed candidates for the nomination for Gov- 
ernor. These men were of the majority that controlled 
the Big Springs Convention and the majority in the Con- 
stitutional Convention, at Topeka. While others were 
brought into prominence at the Big Springs Convention 
and at the Constitutional Convention, Robinson was decid- 
edly in the background. But political affairs were about to 
bring him to the front again. His position as agent of the 
Emigrant Aid Company, his conduct in the Wakarusa 
War, and his attitude on slavery, all appealed to those who 
were sincerely interested in the Free-State cause. More- 
over, his friends, who were in a majority, looked upon him 
as one well fitted for the position of Governor of the State 
at this juncture, as it required a man of coolness, patriot- 
ism, and prudence. It was much in his favor that he did 
not seek the nomination, although he accepted it willingly 
as a duty thrust upon him. The convention for the nomi- 
nation of officers was held at Lawrence, on December 22d, 
and Charles Robinson was nominated for Governor. 

Many being dissatisfied with the choice, a " bolters' " 
ticket, called a "Free-State Anti- Abolition Ticket," was 
formed, with W. Y. Roberts at the head. But at the 
election, held January 15th, 1856, the people supported the 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 191 

regular nominee, giving Robinson 1,300 votes, while Rob- 
erts received only 400. 1 While the result was displeasing 
to the conservative element of the party, it was highly sat- 
isfactory to the radicals, for Robinson was almost an abo- 
litionist in practical expediency, and quite so at heart, 
His extreme loyalty to the cause of freedom gave strength 
to the Free-State men in Kansas, and secured the confi- 
dence of the antislavery people throughout the Northern 
States. 

Here, then, is the most remarkable situation ever occur- 
ring in the organization of any Territory within the 
United States. A complete State government was formed, 
constitution and all, set up in defiance of a legislature 
chosen by the people (?) of the same Territory, and re- 
pudiating its laws. The Free- State party was so strong 
in opposition to the Territorial Legislature and its " bogus 
laws," the offspring of Missouri, that it had determined 
never in any way to recognize them. To carry out this 
resolution they had instituted a State government, that 
they might live under laws of their own making. With 
this in view they hoped to eventually receive recognition 
by the Federal Government, and be admitted into the 
Union under the Constitution which they had framed. 
Should Congress refuse to recognize them, and thereby 
fail to seize the opportunity of allaying strife in Kansas 
and averting a national calamity, and should it insist on 
the enforcement of obedience to the " bogus laws," it might 
be necessary for the Free-State men to appeal to the nation 
rather than submit to the humiliation and outrage. The 
time might come when it would be necessary to put the 

1 Marcus J. Parrott was elected Lieutenant-Governor ; Cyrus K. Holliday, Secre- 
tary of State ; and Mark W. Deiahay, Representative in Congress. 



192 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

Free-State government under the Topeka Constitution 
into active operation. 

The stand taken by the Free-State men in Kansas sent 
a thrill throughout the nation, and contributed not a little 
to the development of Republicanism in the North. The 
old parties were rapidly dissolving, mainly because oppo- 
sition to slavery was concentrating the people in the North 
into one great party. The attempt of the Federal Gov- 
ernment to force slavery upon Kansas against the wishes 
of the people and in direct violation of the organic act, 
and the raids of the Missourians across the border, in- 
creased the excitement at the North and strengthened the 
determination of the friends of freedom to make Kansas 
a free State. While there was a prospect that a change in 
the national administration would permit Kansas to be 
admitted under the Topeka Constitution, this change was 
a long way off, and perhaps it might not occur at all. The 
position of Governor under such circumstances was one of 
great responsibility. To hold this State government in- 
tact for several years, opposing the fraudulent Territorial 
Government without coming into fatal opposition to the 
Federal Government, was not an easy task. And what 
if the Proslavery element had gained a majority in the Ter- 
ritory, while, at the same time, holding the ascendency in 
the Federal Government ? What might have become of 
the followers of the Topeka Constitution ? It is sufficient 
to say here, that Governor Robinson foresaw and under- 
stood all of the difficulties of his position, and met them 
all intelligently and fearlessly. 

It was thought by the managers of the Constitutional 
Convention, that, if the Democrats were forced to the 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 193 

front, the Constitution so constructed as to seem not to be 
against slavery, the Democratic administration at Washing- 
ton would favor the admission of Kansas under the Topeka 
Constitution. It was thought, as Delahay said in the con- 
vention, that it would, with these provisions, " go through 
like a bullet." Yet, in spite of all the trimming of the 
party and ail the changes in the Constitution subsequent to 
its adoption by the people, and its mutilation, it was finally 
withdrawn from consideration in the United States Senate, 
by Senator Cass, on account of the opposition it met with. 
The supporters of this constitution had entered a great 
struggle for freedom. But the die was cast, and the divi- 
sion was now carefully marked between those who favored 
the admission of Kansas as a free State and those who op- 
posed this. Many of the violent Proslavery newspaper 
writers advocated a war of extermination. The Eree-State 
Executive Committee was not idle, and appointed a com- 
mittee consisting of Lane, Emery, Hunt, Goodin, Dickey, 
Holliday, and Simpson, to make a tour throughout the 
United States, especially visiting some of the principal 
cities, in order to arouse interest among the people for the 
cause of the Free- State men of Kansas. An enthusiastic 
Eree-State meeting was held in Lawrence, January 12th, 
1856, three days before the election of Governor Robinson. 
Addresses were made by Robinson, Lane, Conway, Red- 
path, Speer, Mallory, and Legate; and the committee on 
resolutions, of which James H. Lane was chairman, re- 
ported a single resolution favoring " a Eree-State govern- 
ment without delay, emanating from the people and re- 
ponsible to them." Whatever the results that were to 
— 13 



194: LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

come from the course pursued by the Free-State party, 
they were now formally committed to this course. 

The formation of this Topeka Government was de- 
nounced by the President, Franklin Fierce, in a special 
message to Congress, January 24th, 1856. Upon the 
whole, this proclamation of the President was a fair repre- 
sentation of the actual state of affairs in Kansas. The 
President held, however, that the summoning of the To- 
peka Convention, the making and adoption of the Topeka 
Constitution, and the election of Member of Congress, 
Governor, and other officers, were illegal acts, and declared 
that he would attempt to support the Territorial laws of 
the Territorial Legislature, because they represented a 
part of the Federal Government of the United States. He 
said, nevertheless, 1 " that when the inhabitants of Kansas 
may desire it, and shall be of sufficient number to consti- 
tute a State, a convention of delegates duly elected by the 
qualified voters shall assemble to frame a constitution, and 
then to prepare through regular and lawful means for its 
admission into the Union as a State. I respectfully recom- 
mend the enactment of a law to this effect." 

Subsequently, on February 11th, Pierce issued a procla- 
mation commanding " all persons engaged in unlawful con- 
vention against the constitutional authority of the Territory 
of Kansas or United States to disperse, and to retire to their 
respective abodes." 2 A few days later, on February 15th, 
Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War, sent an order to Gov- 
ernor Shannon, but addressed to Col. E. \ r . Sumner, of 

1 Messages and Papers of the President, Vol. V, p. 36«X 

2 Wilder's Annals, p. 103. 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 195 

Fort Leavenworth and to Brevet-Col. P. St. George Cooke, 
Fort Riley, Gov. Shannon being in Washington. This 
order authorized the Governor to disperse all persons com- 
bining for insurrection against the organized government 
of the Territory, by power vested in the United States Mar- 
shal, and further authorized him to employ the Federal 
troops should the civil power be insufficient for this pur- 
pose. Secretary Davis inclosed with this order a copy of 
President Pierce's proclamation of February 11th, and a 
copy of the order issued by Secretary Davis to Col. Sumner 
and Col. Cooke with the sanction of the Federal Govern- 
ment. 

Shannon, in his report to the Government, declared that 
Robinson and Reeder made speeches in Lawrence on the 
occasion of the arrival of S. "N. Wood from Ohio " in com- 
pany," and that these speeches were directed against the 
Territorial law. He also reported the organization of re- 
sistance to the laws, and the initiation of a member to the 
order organized for this purpose. Lane and Robinson are 
said to have been leaders in this secret order. The only 
basis for this assertion was, that Robinson and Lane were 
recognized throughout the country as the leaders of the 
Free-State cause. Shannon finally became a strong sup- 
porter of the Free-State cause, realizing that the people of 
Lawrence, in their defense against the ruffians of Missouri, 
were only acting the part of citizens in defending their 
homes. The result of the Wakarusa War and the trouble 
with Jones was, finally, the sack of Lawrence and the de- 
struction of the town, on May 21, 1856. 1 

The grand jury of Douglas county had recommended 

1 See previous chapter. Kan. Hist. Coll., Vol. 4, pp. 405-7-8-13. 



196 "LIFE OF CHAELES BOBINSON 

that the newspapers, the Herald of Freedom and the Kan- 
sas Free State, and the Free-State Hotel, be abated as nui- 
sances, and had indicted for treason Robinson, Reeder, 
Wood and others who had participated in the organization 
of the Free- State Government. Gov. Reeder and S. ~N. 
Wood escaped. Gov. Robinson had resigned his position 
as Governor, temporarily, and it was arranged that he go 
East for the purpose of communicating with friends for 
the help of Kansas. He was arrested in Lexington, Mis- 
souri, and returned. G. W. Brown, Geo. W. Deitzler, 
Gaius Jenkins and G. W. Smith were arrested. 

A part of the object in arresting these leaders was to en- 
able the Proslavery men to deal more easily with Lawrence 
and the opposition of the Free-State men. If the leaders 
could be disposed of, it would be an easy matter to subdue 
and overwhelm the remainder of the Free-State party. 
The grand jury issued the following indictment, which 
Sheriff Jones carried as authority for the destruction of 
Lawrence : 

" The grand jury, sitting for the adjourned term of the first 
district court, in and for the county of Douglas, in the Territory 
of Kansas, beg leave to report to the honorable court that from the 
evidence laid before them showing that the newspaper known as the 
Herald of Freedom, published in the town of Lawrence, has, from 
time to time, issued publications of the most inflammatory and sedi- 
tious character — denying the legality of the Territorial authority ; 
addressing and demanding forcible resistance to the same, and demor- 
alizing the popular mind; rendering the life and property unsafe, 
and even to the extent of advising assassination as a last resort. 
Also, that the paper known as the Kansas Free State has similarly 
been engaged, and has recently reported the resolution of a public 
meeting in Johnson county, in this Territory, in which resistance to 
the Territorial laws even unto blood has been agreed upon. And that 
we respectfully recommend their abatement as a nuisance. 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 197 

" Also, that we are satisfied that the building known as the ' Free- 
State Hotel/ in Lawrence, has been constructed with a view to mili- 
tary occupation and defense, regularly parapeted and portholed for 
the use of cannon and small arms, and could only have been designed 
as a stronghold for the resistance of the law. thereby endangering 
the public safety and encouraging rebellion and sedition in this 
country; and respectfully recommend that steps be taken whereby 
this nuisance be abated." 

The result of the sack of Lawrence was to give tempo- 
rary gratification and joy to the Proslavery men. The 
Lecompton Union gave a description of the destruction 
of the town under the following headlines: " Lawrence 
taken ! " " Glorious Triumph of the Law-and-Order Party 
over Fanaticism in Kansas ! " Horace Greeley said : " It 
was the Marshal of the United States who led the ruffian 
regiment into Lawrence ; it was by virtue of process issued 
by the Federal judge at Lecompton that the Free-State re- 
sistance has been paralyzed and the demoniacal work com- 
pleted." 

Andrew J. Reeder contested the election for Delegate to 
Congress of his opponent, John W. Whitfield, who claimed 
the seat, and who indeed was seated by Congress. To set- 
tle the difficulty, Congress appointed an investigating com- 
mittee, consisting of John Sherman, W. A. Howard, and 
M. Oliver. They spent some time in Kansas taking testi- 
mony of numerous parties, and endured threats and insults 
from the Proslavery party. They finally completed their 
report, which was signed by Sherman and Howard, but 
not by Oliver, who brought in a minority report, which was 
in many respects an open contradiction of the majority re- 
port. This report set forth the facts that the elections had 
been fraudulent, that the Legislature was therefore un- 
lawful, and that the alleged laws of the illegally consti- 



198 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

tilted Legislature had not been used for the purpose of 
protecting persons or property or to punish wrong, but for 
unlawful purposes. While the report asserted that Mr. 
Reeder had received more votes than his opponent, it fur- 
ther declared that the election had not been held in pursu- 
ance of any law, and that therefore neither Whitfield nor 
Reeder could properly be said to have been elected. The 
report went on to say : " That in the present condition of 
the Territory, a fair election cannot be held without a new 
census, a stringent and well-guarded election law, the se- 
lection of impartial judges, and the presence of United 
States troops at every place of election." 

While the investigation of the committee was being car- 
ried on, the Proslavery people of Kansas, aided by the Fed- 
eral authorities, were planning a new campaign. They 
had failed to drive out the Free-State men with threats and 
force of arms. They had failed to bring them into colli- 
sion with the United States troops that the Federal Gov- 
ernment might have an excuse to drive them from the soil. 
A new scheme for getting rid of them was now laid. This 
was nothing less than to have the leaders of the Free-State 
party indicted for treason, arrested, and kept from the field 
of activity. With the leaders out of the way, the remain- 
der could either be driven from the country or be terrified 
into defiance of the constituted authorities. Acting on 
this plan, Judge Lecompte gave a charge to the grand jury, 
the meaning of which could not be mistaken. In the 
course of this charge he said : 

" This Territory was organized by an act of Congress, and so far, 
its authority is from the United States. It has a Legislature elected 
in pursuance of the organic act. This Legislature, being an instru- 
ment of Congress by which it governs the Territory, has passed laws. 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STEUGGLE 199 

These laws, therefore, are of the United States authority and making, 
and all who resist these laws resist the power and authority of the 
United States, and are therefore guilty of high treason. Now, gen- 
tlemen, if you find that any person has resisted these laws, then you 
must, under your oaths, find bills against them for high treason. 
If you find that no such resistance has been made, but that combi- 
nations have been formed for the purpose of resisting them, and in- 
dividuals of notoriety have been aiding and abetting them in such 
combinations, then you must find bills for constructive treason." 

The charge was ingeniously made, and on the face of it 
represented good law. For it must he held that the Legis- 
lature, once established and recognized as the servant of 
the United States Government, was performing a legitimate 
act in making laws, and that those who disobeyed these 
laws were in the attitude of law-breakers. The Free-State 
men might contend that the Legislature was fraudulently 
elected, but as it was recognized by Congress, it was plain 
that the opposers of it were in peculiar straits. While, 
therefore, there was undoubtedly a show of law on the side 
of the Proslavery element, and while there was a clear au- 
thority for the Territorial Government, backed as it was 
by the Federal Government, yet every one knew that this 
Territorial Government rested upon fraud and usurpation 
in the beginning, and every Free- State and liberty-loving 
man was determined to resist to his utmost the imposition 
of a slave government upon Kansas by unfair means. 
Yet these men felt that they must bow to the will of the 
United States Government. It required exceedingly nice 
action on their part not to come into direct opposition to 
the Federal authority, while they continued to reject the 
acts of the Legislature which represented it. Whether the 
organization of a Free-State government with a constitu- 



200 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

tion and a memorial to Congress to be admitted into the 
Union could be construed as high treason and usurpation 
of office, seemed very doubtful. But the Chief Justice 
of the Territorial Court and the organized government of 
the Territory were against the Free-State cause and its ad- 
vocates, and the Free-State men must act accordingly. 

James F. Legate, a member of the grand jury, met Rob- 
inson and Reeder, with Sherman and Howard of the Con- 
gressional Investigating Committee, at Tecumseh, and 
informed them of the plan to indict the leading members 
of the Free-State party for treason, with the idea of with- 
drawing them from the field of active defense. The night 
following the reception of this information, a council of 
war was held at the Garvey House, in Topeka, attended 
by Robinson, Sherman, Reeder, Howard, Roberts, Mrs. 
Sherman, and Mrs. Robinson. The whole situation was 
fully discussed, and among other conclusions reached it 
was decided that the Free- State men should act in defense 
of the Free-State organization, but should not attack the 
Territorial Government. It was also decided that an agent 
should be sent throughout the Eastern States, to arouse the 
governors of those States and to enlist the services of the 
Free- State sympathizers. Governor Robinson was chosen 
for this important mission, and started for Washington 
with Mrs. Robinson, on the 9th day of May, going by way 
of St. Louis. They carried with them important docu- 
ments, including the report of the Investigating Commit- 
tee. They made a quick trip to Kansas City, and there 
took a boat for St. Louis. As Dr. Robinson had been up 
two or three nights, he was asleep when the boat touched 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 201 

the levee at Lexington. From Mrs. Robinson's book is 

taken the following: 

" There were very few passengers ; everything was quiet ; and we 
were making a quick trip. In the afternoon we procured some books, 
and went into our stateroom. From reading we soon fell asleep. 
At Lexington I was awakened by a noise as of many coming onto the 
boat. It having subsided somewhat, I was drowsing again, when the 
captain came to our stateroom door, opening upon the guard, with a 
red-faced, excitable-looking person of short stature, whom he intro- 
duced to my husband as General Shields. Whether this title of 
general was acquired by Mr. Shields's visit to the Territory at the 
time of the ' Shannon war/ last December, or whether it arose from 
the necessity which Western men seem to feel, that of bearing some 
title, I have been quite unable to learn. That he was prominent in 
inciting that invasion, as well as others in the Territory, is true. 
Another person, of larger figure, and more quiet, dignified air, came 
soon, and was introduced as Mr. Bernard, of Westport. After stating 
' they had come upon an unpleasant errand,' they proceeded to state 
its purport — that of detaining my husband in Lexington, as he was 
fleeing from an indictment. He assured them such was not the 
case; that he had at all times been in Lawrence, or at places where 
he could have been arrested, had the authorities desired his arrest; 
but they had made no effort to serve any process upon him, and, so 
far as he knew, there was no indictment out against him." 

It appeared that a mob of men had gathered who de- 
sired to take G-overnor Robinson and to deal roughly with 
him. He was told that the leaders had been talking to the 
mob to prevent violence, and that the longer he remained 
upon the boat the more dangerous it was to him. Governor 
Eobinson thereupon asked the privilege of talking to the 
mob. This was refused, on the ground of danger to his 
person. Promises were made that he would be protected 
if he would go with the committee. It appearing that 
force would be used if necessary to take him from the boat 
and retain him at Lexington, he referred the matter to 



202 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

Mrs. Robinson whether he should attempt to defend him- 
self with one revolver, or go without resistance. She re- 
plied, " They will kill you if you go, and you may as well 
make a stand here." The committee said, "Had it not 
been reported that your lady was on board, violence would 
have at once been offered; and no restraint could have 
been held over the crowd." Gov. Robinson assured the 
committee that he had no thought of escaping from an in- 
dictment, and that had he so desired, the Missouri river 
and Lexington would have been avoided of all places. He 
ventured the assertion that at least he saw no reason why 
another State should interfere in matters which concerned 
Kansas only. This statement aroused the ire of the leader. 
Finally, upon the assurance of the committee on their 
honor that the prisoner would be protected, and after the 
plea of the clerk of the boat that Gov. Robinson should 
give himself up without resistance, for his own safety, he 
and Mrs. Robinson finally yielded as a matter of policy, 
although much against their own feelings, which prompted 
them to resist with force any attempt to arrest the Gov- 
ernor and take him forcibly from the boat. 

Gov. Robinson was placed in charge of Judge Sawyer, 
formerly of Fitchburg, Massachusetts, who treated him 
" more like a prince than a fugitive from justice." Two 
men from the country appeared and tried to get up a mob 
to lynch Gov. Robinson, but when Judge Sawyer told them 
that he would turn Robinson into the street equally armed 
with the two men against them, they dropped the matter. 

Two or three days thereafter, Dr. McDonald, who had 
been in California at the time of the Sacramento riot, and 
had dressed the wounds of Dr. Robinson after the latter 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STKUGGKE 203 

had been shot, heard that Robinson was detained as a 
prisoner at Lexington, and left the boat to visit him. When 
Dr. McDonald met Gov. Robinson he exclaimed, " Well, 
it is you, sure enough ! When I heard a man with your 
name was a prisoner, I thought it must be you, as you are 
always in some scrape." While detained in Lexington 
Gov. Robinson learned that plans for a new invasion of 
Kansas were being formed. The leading citizens of the 
place came to talk with him, and assured him that there 
would be a fight ; that Lawrence would be destroyed ; and 
some went so far as to assert that the trouble would divide 
the North from the South, — that the Union would be 
dissolved, and the South would become independent. Some 
said that it would be a war of extermination, and that if 
the Free-State men could withstand the Proslavery men 
they would give it up. 

No indictment could be found against Robinson in Lex- 
ington, and therefore he was held a prisoner for about a 
week, until messengers could go to Lecompton and obtain 
an indictment from the grand jury, and to the Governor of 
Missouri with a requisition from Governor Shannon. 
Finally, Deputy U. S. Marshal Preston came, " armed and 
equipped with requisition, posse, revolvers, and convey- 
ance," and took the prisoner overland to Westport. At 
this place Robinson sent for Col. Kersey Coates, and re- 
tained him as his attorney. Robinson learned of the situa- 
tion in Lawrence from Col. Coates, who told him that the 
town had not been attacked by the marshal and his posse 
of eight hundred men. Robinson was kept at Westport 
until the 22d of May, — " until after Lawrence should be 
attacked," as his captors said. On the night of the 22d 



204 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

Col. Preston arrived at Franklin with his prisoner, and at 
midnight received word from Governor Shannon to return 
to Leavenworth by way of Kansas City, as the Governor 
feared a rescue. He further declared that he would hold 
Colonel Preston responsible for the safe-conduct of Robin- 
son. Orders were obeyed, and the prisoner was conducted 
to Westport, Kansas City and Leavenworth, arriving at 
the latter place on the morning of the 24th of May. There 
he was delivered into the hands of the sheriff of Leaven- 
worth county, and Captain Martin of the Kickapoo Rang- 
ers and three others were appointed his guard. 

While this arrest was being accomplished, Lawrence had 
been entered by Sheriff Jones and his posse, the hotel and 
printing-presses had been destroyed, stores looted, and 
homes desecrated and burned by the cowardly ruffians fol- 
lowing the lawless marshal. Another important event oc- 
curred on the 24th of May, on the Pottawatomie, where 
John Brown killed five Proslavery men. An account of 
this event has already been given in this volume, 1 as well 
as of its effects, a part of which, among other things, was 
to inaugurate a general reign of terror in Leavenworth. 
A vigilance committee was formed, with the purpose of 
driving away every Free-State man from the Territory. 
This committee threatened to take Governor Robinson and 
hang him, and doubtless they would have done so had it 
not been for the interference of Captain Martin, who rein- 
forced the guard. Perhaps the presence of Judge Lecompte 
and the United States marshal in the town that day made 
the mob less violent, although the feeling among the Pro- 
slavery men was very bitter. Mr. Sherman, of the Con- 

1 See Chapter IV. 



^ 




ROBINSON AND CAPTAIN BILL" MARTIN, OF THE KICKAPOO RANGERS- 
PRISONER AND KEEPER. 1856. 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 205 

gressional Investigating Committee, called upon Governor 
Robinson, as did also Judge Lecompte. Governor Robin- 
son asked the latter about the nature of his indictment. 
He replied, " There are two : one for usurping office, and 
one for high treason." Finally, Governor Robinson was 
conducted to Lecompton and placed in the prison-tent with 
six other prisoners. 

Thus were the leaders of the Free-State party impris- 
oned, Lawrence invaded, plundered and burned, — Governor 
Robinson's home going up in names with others, — and 
John Brown's startling deed on the Pottawatomie commit- 
ted. The troubles of the Territory had just begun, and 
the whole summer following was a reign of terror to the 
harassed settlers. 

Mrs. Robinson performed an important service to the 
Free-State cause by continuing her journey East after the 
arrest of her husband at Lexington. She visited the East- 
ern cities, bearing important letters and documents to 
men of influence, and consulted with many prominent peo- 
ple who sympathized with the cause of freedom in Kansas. 

Petitions were now forwarded by the Free-State party 
to the governors of the States of the North, asking them to 
call together the State legislatures for the purpose of tak- 
ing action in favor of the patriots of Kansas. The im- 
perative need of protection for the citizens of the various 
States who had migrated to Kansas and who were there 
without protection, was urged in these petitions as the 
ground for such action on the part of the Northern gov- 
ernors. A remonstrance was drawn up for the Northern 
governors to sign, when it was to be forwarded to the Presi- 
dent, conveying to him the information that the pillage and 



206 LIFE OF CHAKLES KOBINSON 

anarchy could no longer continue in Kansas without in- 
volving the nation in civil war. 

A kind of indirect appeal was also made to the President 
through the family of Amos A. Lawrence, and it is thought 
that this appeal had great influence in bringing the Presi- 
dent to a realizing sense of the impending danger. This 
appeal was conveyed to the President in the following 
manner : Amos A. Lawrence sent a draft of a letter to Mrs. 
Robinson, who copied it, and forwarded it to Mr. Law- 
rence's mother, to whom it was written. 1 Mrs. Lawrence 
in turn sent it to the President's wife, who read it, and 
gave it to her husband to read. It is thought that this 
letter had much influence with the President, for Gover- 
nor Shannon was soon after recalled, and Governor Geary 
was appointed in his place. 

Governor Geary arrived in Leavenworth on September 
9th, 1856, and began a vigorous campaign against lawless- 
ness and in favor of justice and fair play. Lie set vigor- 
ously about the reorganization of affairs in the Territory. 
He attempted to harmonize the different elements, and to 
preserve justice and law in the courts, the Legislature, and 
among the people. In this he was seconded by Governor 
Robinson. As it appeared that Governor Geary was trying 
to aid the Free-State people by establishing justice and 
order, and as he saw that the Free-State cause would 
flourish under such conditions, Robinson was ready to hand 
in his resignation to the Free-State Legislature if by so 
doing he could facilitate the work of Governor Geary. 2 

Soon after the arrival of Governor Geary the treason 
prisoners were set free, and Governor Robinson returned 

1 See Appendix B. 

2 Kansas Historical Collections, Vol. 4, p 683.. 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 207 

to Lawrence. But lie had no sooner arrived there than he 
was called upon to work with other citizens in the defense 
of the town, for there appeared on the Wakarusa an armed 
body of Missouri ans led by B,eid, Atchison and others, who 
had come to destroy Lawrence. James II. Lane was com- 
manding the forces of militia at that time, and remained 
in Lawrence long enough to welcome the released treason 
prisoners who came from the prison camp at Lecompton. 
He appointed Captain Cracklin of the Lawrence " Stubbs " 
Lieutenant-Colonel, and, putting him in command, started 
on an expedition north with all of the men and arms he 
could get, leaving not more than fifty rifles and not more 
than two hundred men to be mustered into the defense of 
the town. Why he did this under the threatened invasion 
will always be a mystery. Such forces as could be mus- 
tered were brought together and stationed to the best 
advantage. They made a meager showing, but there were 
brave men among them, and when a detachment of the 
enemy came in sight east of the town, Captain Cracklin 
with a small force moved out to meet them. After a brisk 
skirmish the enemy withdrew, and the handful of men 
remained in position, expecting on the morrow to be over- 
whelmed by superior numbers, but willing, if necessary, 
to die in defense. Meanwhile, messengers were sent to 
Governor Geary at Lecompton, acquainting him with the 
situation and asking his aid. Governor Geary had just 
issued his proclamation commanding all armed bands in 
the Territory to disperse to their homes, and he at once 
ordered Colonel Cooke to go to Lawrence with his com- 
mand. Colonel Cooke arrived in the town at night, and in 
the morning the enemy discovered cannon bristling on 



208 LIFE OF CHARLES KOBINSON 

tlie hill above them and a company of dragoons camped at 
its base, between them and the town they had expected to 
destroy. The enemy had lost their opportunity. Governor 
Geary came in person and addressed the leaders of the in- 
vading army, telling them that the destruction of Lawrence 
and a persistency in their course of action meant a Demo- 
cratic defeat at Washington. Using this and other strong 
arguments, he persuaded the invaders to retire towards 
Missouri. Thus the invasion of the 2700 ended with a 
bloodless victory for the Free-State cause. 

It was thought by some that Geary knew that the in- 
vaders from Missouri were to come, and were to return at 
his command, so that a showing of protection to the Free- 
State men could be made by the Democratic party, which 
was much in need of votes at the Presidential election. 
There seems to be no historical evidence to this effect. 
However, the party was being arraigned for lawlessness 
in Kansas. If it could be shown that order was restored 
in Kansas by the efforts of the administration, it would 
have great influence on the election. On the contrary, the 
cool courage and persistency of Governor Geary in oppos- 
ing the Proslavery element in face of the Federal authority, 
which he subsequently did, would seem to indicate that 
he would not carry out a sham to save the votes of his own 
party. 

Besides, the militia-mob assembled about Lawrence, 
which he went out to disperse, was called into service by 
the proclamation of Acting-Governor Woodson, prior to the 
arrival of Geary in Kansas. Governor Geary was ap- 
parently ignorant of this proclamation, and yet was deal- 
ing with its effects. Without doubt Geary was sent to 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 209 

Kansas by the leaders of the Democratic party at Wash- 
ington in the hope that he would pacify the country, and 
at least make a show of justice toward the Free-State peo- 
ple, thus making votes for the party in the next presi- 
dential election. But subsequently, when it was found that 
he intended to deal out justice to friend and foe alike, the 
Proslavery people turned against him — for justice, at this 
particular juncture, was a word not found in their vocab- 
ulary. After six months of strenuous effort to establish 
justice and promote peace and harmony, therefore, Gov- 
ernor Geary, like his predecessors, was obliged to leave the 
Territory, his life in danger, his work unfinished. 

Much has been said and written about the invasion of 
Kansas and the attack on Lawrence by the 2700. Richard 
Realf wrote a stirring poem on the battle, which has a 
historical fact for its theme, and makes use of a large poet- 
ical license in its description. Some have sought to make 
John Brown the hero of the occasion. He was in Law- 
rence at the time, but had no command and had little to 
say about affairs. Had the little band of defenders been 
forced to meet the attacking army on that fatal to-morrow 
which never arrived, on account of the coming of Geary, 
Brown would without doubt have been seen in the thickest 
of the fight. But there were no heroes made in this threat- 
ened battle which resulted in a bloodless victory, though 
there can be no question that Robinson, Brown, Cracklin 
and Learnard were ready to do their duty in leading the 
little band of men to the defense of the town, and, prob- 
ably, to their death. Beyond what is related above, there 
was no fighting and no other military movements, except 
that Colonel Learnard, commanding a small force of horse- 

— 14 



210 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

men, went toward Blanton's Bridge, swung round to- 
ward Franklin, and, on the approach of a large body of 
Missourians, retreated toward the town. However, the 
invasion of the 2700 marks an era in the history of the 
border war. It was the last systematic attempt of the Pro- 
slavery power to make Kansas a slave State by force of 
arms. From that time forth they accepted the fact that the 
" Yankees " could not be exterminated, driven out, or con- 
quered by force. They now turned their attention to pol- 
itics and constitution-making, hoping to secure by legisla- 
tion, fraud, or diplomacy, what they had failed to secure 
by pillage, outrage, and murder. The individual acts of 
violence that occurred on the border and in Kansas after 
this were but the products of the seeds of anarchy, rapine 
and murder, previously sown by the attempt to coerce and 
exterminate a liberty-loving people. 

The coming of Governor Geary, his decisive action in 
suppressing outlawry, and his disbanding of armed bodies 
of men who were marauding under the guise of militia, 
had much to do with the final triumph of the cause of 
freedom. Add to these the important action of Governor 
Walker, who later insured a fair vote, and by means of 
which the Tree-State men gained possession of the Terri- 
torial Legislature, and you have the two most prominent 
turning-points in favor of freedom. Of course these events 
could not in themselves have insured freedom without the 
increased number of Free-State voters, who came pouring 
into the Territory from the ISTorth and from the East so 
rapidly that they were soon to outnumber the proslavery 
advocates and win a decisive victory at the polls. 

Had the coming of Governor Geary been delayed much 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 211 

longer the Free-State cause would without doubt have sud- 
denly declined, and Lawrence, Topeka, and every Free- 
State settlement would have been completely demolished. 
While Robinson and others were imprisoned at Lecompton, 
Gov. Reeder. General Lane and S. !NT. Wood were all in- 
dicted, yet subsequently they were allowed to go through 
the country unmolested and without bail. Mr. Thayer in 
his " Kansas Crusade " holds that the arrest and imprison- 
ment of these men was for the purpose of provoking the 
Free-State men to fight the United States troops in order 
to secure their rescue. As Lane, Montgomery and Brown 
were free, it was thought that they might undertake this 
work against the Government. Lane at once set about 
preparing for the rescue of the prisoners, and sent a letter 
to Robinson offering to set him free by force. Robinson 
refused to permit anything of the kind. 1 

If Mr. Thayer is correct in his surmise that such a 
plan was ever considered by the Proslavery men, the wis- 
dom and coolness of Robinson in not allowing force to be 
used caused the whole attempt to fail. While imprisoned, 
Robinson and others wrote to the Legislature which assem- 
bled at Topeka to be courageous and stand by the cause, but 
to make no resistance to Federal troops. 2 This body did 
as they advised until dispersed by Sumner. It was a small 
legislature, however, without a quorum, only seventeen 
members responding to roll-call. Many stayed away on 
account of fear. 

Robinson was still considered the leader of the Free- 
State movement, and was so recognized by the enemies of 

1 Thayer's "Kansas Crusade," p. 210. 

2 Spring : Kaaaas, p. 152. 



212 XJFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

the Free- State cause. The leaders of the Proslavery party 
insisted that Robinson had always been the chief man of 
the abolitionists and the acknowledged leader in Kansas. 
At any rate, he may fairly be said to have been foremost 
among many leaders, and one of the heroic men of his 
times. 

The Kansas struggle was in great danger of disintegrat- 
ing the Democratic party, and Governor Geary had been 
appointed for the purpose of pacifying Kansas in view of 
the approaching national election. 1 He at once opened the 
Territory to the immigrant parties from the North, and 
inaugurated a fair and liberal policy which appeared to 
be in favor of the Free- State men merely because it was a 
policy of justice to all parties. 

Robinson >vas called East, and appeared in ISTew York, 
where he made a Republican speech October 22d, 1856. 2 
Being absent from the Territory, he resigned the governor- 
ship under the Topeka Constitution. The Free-State Leg- 
islature met on January 6th, 1857, and many proceeded 
to find fault with Robinson and the Lieutenant-Governor 
for their absence. There was no quorum at this time. 
Those members of the Legislature who met appear not 
to have known as yet that Robinson had resigned. How- 
ever, they resolved to adhere to the State Government, and 
they met again on January 7th, a quorum being present. 
About a dozen members were arrested, and the next day 
the Legislature, having no quorum, took a recess until the 
second Tuesday in June. Robinson was in the East on 
business of the Emigrant Aid Company, and was making 

1 Cordley : " History of Lawrence," pp. 128-9. 

2 Wilder's Annals, p. 141. 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 213 

plans for the organization of the town of Quindaro. 1 He 
and Geary had begun on the plan for a short cut to state- 
hood. In a letter directed to Amos A. Lawrence, Decem- 
ber 21st, 1856, Robinson says : " What if by means of cer- 
tain influences the Topeka Constitution should be admit- 
ted, the State Governor should resign, the Territorial Gov- 
ernor be unanimously elected and we should have a 
peaceable free State? Of course the Senate would need 
to compromise the matter with the House by providing for 
submitting the Constitution once more to the people. This, 
with the election law of Congress and Governor Geary to 
execute it, would be no very serious objection." 2 

In accordance with the above, Robinson had gone East, 
leaving his resignation by letter for the meeting of the 
Topeka Legislature, January 6th, 1857; but Robinson's 
mission was without result, and Geary was fast losing 
favor with the national administration. The administra- 
tion did not like so fair and even a policy, but they were 
obliged to tolerate Geary till after the election, when he 
was forced to resign, March 4th, 1857. 3 

Many have censured Governor Robinson for his resig- 
nation, but he explains this in a letter to the Boston Atlas, 
dated January 28th, 1857 : 

" Immediately after the Presidential election . . . the people 
generally seemed disposed to yield everything but honor to peace, and 
there was apparently a desire to cooperate with any and all parties, if 
we might thereby secure our disenthrallment from the Shawnee Mis- 
sion usurpation. A hope was cherished that our admission into the 
Union under the Topeka Constitution might be effected, with a proviso 
submitting it once more to a vote of the people. ... To this end I 

1 Wilder's Annate, pp. 148-9. 2 Spring : Kansas, p. 203. * Wilder'3 Annate, p. 156. 



214 LIFE OF CHAEXES BOBINSON 

directed my efforts, and it was that all objection to the State organi- 
zation, from any source, might be removed, as well as to be able 
to work more efficiently and disinterestedly in securing friends from 
all parties, that I proposed to create a vacancy in the office I held. 
Consultation was had with the leading men, as opportunity presented, 
and I understood the arrangement to be approved, — at least I knew 
of no serious objections. 

" Having no representative of the State movement at Washington, 
and not knowing that anyone would volunteer, I decided to go there 
several weeks before the Legislature was to assemble. I consulted 
with Lieut. -Gov. Roberts and told him of my purpose to leave Kansas, 
provided he would attend to State matters in my absence. This he 
cheerfully consented to do. . . . Had I known that Gov. Roberts 
would not have been present at fie Legislature, I most certainly 
should not have resigned till after its adjournment, and would not 
have left Kansas. Instead of abandoning the State organization, I 
thought I was doing all in my power to advance its prospects of 
success. . . . 

" I see it stated that my business East was to sell shares in Quin- 
daro, etc. Nothing can be farther from the truth. I have not offered 
a share for sale, and do not want to sell a share until some of the 
money now received shall have been invested." 

In a speech before the Free- State Convention, March 
10th, 1857, at Topeka, he gives the following explanation 
of his resignation : 

" Gov. Geary made many great promises; he talked well; he talked 
long and fast, and he still talks much. I asked him if he thought 
there was any way in which the Topeka Constitution could get into 
the Union? He seemed to think it might by a resubmission to the 
people, or at furthest in addition to this, a new election of the State 
officers. . . . It is well known that all manner of charges had 
been heaped upon me by our enemies, such as those of being an aboli- 
tionist, a disunionist, and many others, which caused me to be looked 
upon with a great deal of hatred by the Democratic party. In fact, 
I may say that I was probably more unpopular with that party than 
any other man in the country. On this account I thought there would 
be less of a barrier in the way of this if I were not at the head of 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 215 

the Stale government. This was the great reason for offering to 

resign the office I then held." 

Continuing, and referring to his trip to Washington, he 
says : " . . . I will admit, if yon choose, that I have 
accomplished nothing. But I earnestly tried to accomplish 
something, and I have failed, — not because of any unwil- 
lingness on my part. I believed that my course was the 
best one that could be taken." 

Robinson makes a further explanation in an address 

before the Historical Society, January, 1881 : 

" Gov. Geary was satisfied the Free-State men were largely in the 
majority, and was desirous that the majority should rule. That an 
end might be put to this conflict, he sent to the Governor under the 
Topeka Constitution (Robinson), and desired an interview at his 
office. The interview was held in the attic of the log cabin now 
standing with the stone addition on the bank of the river, near the 
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe station at Lecompton. At that inter- 
view Gov. Geary was ready to favor an admission under the Topeka 
Constitution, and was willing to use his influence with the President 
and his party in Congress. It was thought, if there could be a va- 
cancy in the position of Governor, that he or some other Democrat 
might be elected to fill it, and the Administration would more readily 
indorse it. Accordingly, the Topeka Governor resigned, and went to 
Washington for the purpose of procuring admission into the Union. 
He soon, found that the Democratic party at Washington had no sym- 
pathy for any such movement, or for Gov. Geary." 

The second session of the Territorial Legislature met at 
Lecompton, January 12th, 1857. Geary's message prom- 
ised " equal and exact justice to all men of whatever po- 
litical or religious persuasion." He said that the people 
then ruled in everything. " I have every confidence in 
the sound judgment and sober thought of the toiling mill- 
ions." It is quite remarkable that in this message he 
also advocated the building of a railroad to the Gulf of 



216 LIFE OF CHARLES BOBINSON 

Mexico, which showed his wisdom in recognizing the future 
need of this country. 

It will be remembered that this Legislature was Pro- 
slavery, as the Free-State men had taken no part in the 
election of the members, and therefore many bills which 
Geary vetoed passed over his head by a two-thirds vote, 
according to a previous arrangement. Governor Geary's 
idea of securing equal justice for all parties had compara- 
tively little sympathy from those in power in the Legisla- 
ture. Their motto was that there should be no compromise 
with any person or organization that tried to make Kansas 
a free State. Not only was sympathy wanting on the 
part of the Proslavery element for the Chief Executive 
of the Territory, but this same element made threats upon 
his life. Governor Geary being convinced that a plot had 
been formed for his assassination, appealed to General 
Persifer F. Smith, at Fort Leavenworth, for troops to 
protect him. General Smith insisted in reply, that " in- 
sults or probable breaches of peace do not authorize the 
employment of troops." This letter, General Smith seems 
to have taken great satisfaction in reporting soon after to 
Jefferson Davis, Secretary of War. The point to be ob- 
served is, that the National Government was soon out of 
sympathy with Geary, and opposed to him. 

At this juncture the first step in the framing of the 
Leoompton Constitution was taken. The Territorial Legis- 
lature provided for the election of members of a convention 
to meet and frame a State constitution for the purpose of 
securing the admission of Kansas into the Union. It made 
special provision for taking a census of the voters before 
April 10, and further provided that the judge to whom the 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 217 

returns were made could correct and add to the list from 
that time to May 1, when it was to be sent to the Governor. 
It was the duty of the Governor to apportion among the 
precincts sixty delegates to the convention prior to the 
election, which was to be held on June 15th. After the 
delegates were elected they were to assemble on the first 
Monday in September, at Lecompton, for the purpose of 
making a constitution. This seemed like very fair work, 
but the whole registry of voters was placed entirely in 
the hands of the Proslavery officers. Owing to the fact 
that the Legislature made no provision to submit the Con- 
stitution when framed to a vote of the people for rejection 
or ratification, the bill was vetoed by the Governor, but 
was passed over the Governor's veto. Governor Geary, 
having done what he could in favor of justice to all par- 
ties, and finding his services unappreciated by the Pro- 
slavery party, and indeed by many of the Free-State peo- 
ple, being insulted by the former and his life threatened 
and in danger, sent his resignation to President Buchanan, 
to take effect March 20th, 1857. The Free-State men 
were still active. They held a convention at Topeka on 
March 10, 1857, and passed a set of resolutions repudiat- 
ing the bogus Legislature, and declining to vote at the 
coming election for members of the constitutional conven- 
tion. 1 The grounds for this repudiation are based, first, 
on the fact that the order for the election came from the 
bogus Legislature, which was illegally elected and which 
they had repudiated. In the second place, they held that 
the " organic act does not authorize the Territorial Legis- 
lature, even when legitimately convened, to pass an en- 

1 Wilder's Annate, pp. 137-6. Cardley : License, p. 147. 



218 LIFE OF CHABXE8 BOBINSON 

abling act to change the government of the same," and that 
the Assembly, being present in court, leaves the control 
of the election and its pretended officers and intends fraud. 
Furthermore, the provisions intended to disfranchise citi- 
zens were made without referring them to the people for 
their sanction or their disapproval. The Free-State men 
further held that the Constitution framed at Topeka was 
■still the choice of the majority of the people. 

In the mean time, Robinson returned from the East 
and withdrew his resignation as Governor of Kansas 
under the Topeka Constitution. Geary was replaced by 
Walker as Territorial Governor, and Daniel Woodson, 
who had been Secretary of the Territory, was removed and 
Fred. P. Stanton appointed in his place. There was con- 
siderable discussion as to whether Free-State men should 
act in accordance with the resolutions of the Topeka Con- 
vention and stay away from the polls. Stanton, acting 
Governor, issued an address to the people, asking that this 
constitutional convention submit the slavery question " to 
a fair vote of all the actual bona fide residents of the 
Territory, with every possible security against fraud and 
violence," and he also suggested amnesty to all persons 
who had been engaged in the struggle; and he subse- 
quently went to Lawrence and stated that " If any man 
here is prepared to say that he will resist these laws, 
with that man I declare war ! — war to the knife and the 
knife to the hilt." If Stanton had any desire to pacify 
the people of Kansas, he destroyed all his influence with 
that single statement, for his speech created great excite- 
ment and aroused anew the defiance of the Free-State men. 
They wrote to Secretary Stanton that they would take 




DR. ROBINSON, 1857. 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STBUOGLE 219 

part in the election of the delegates to the Lecompton con- 
vention if one Proslavery man and one Free-State man 
should attend to the registry in each district, and if, of 
the four judges of the elections, two should be Proslavery 
and two Free-State men. Secretary Stanton replied that 
he must follow the law. 

On June 15th, when the election of delegates to the Le- 
compton Constitutional Convention occurred, only 2,071 
votes were polled out of a total of 9,251. This was evidence 
that the Convention, was unpopular, and that the Free- 
State men were rapidly growing in number. It was clear 
that if a vote could be obtained, the whole question would 
be settled in favor of the Free-State people. 

In the mean time Governor Robinson had again taken 
up active work. He headed a list of signers to a call for a 
meeting of the Free- State Legislature, to be held June 9th, 
1857. Over sixty persons, among the most prominent of 
the Free-State men, signed this call. 1 

In pursuance to the call, the Free-State Legislature met 
at Topeka. There being no quorum, one was made by 
declaring the seats of the absent thirteen members vacant. 
This reduced the entire number to twenty-five. The mes- 
sage of the Governor at this juncture is worthy of note. 
He outlines the policy of the Free- State people in the 
past and future. He says: 

" I have not . . . abandoned our organization. On the con- 
trary, I believe it is our only hope. When we framed the Constitu- 
tion, something of the kind was necessary to keep together our party, 
and as a basis of securing our rights; . . . and as the same 
reasons which induced us to take our position in the beginning re- 

1 The indictments for treason againet Robinson. JDeitzler and others were disposed 
of on Mty 11th, 1857, the prosecuting officer entering a nolle prosequi. Wilder, p. 165. 



220 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

main, and the same circumstances still exist, why should we not 
maintain our position? 

" Now the Proslavery party is about getting up a constitution 
also. ... If ours is allowed to die, all will then be lost. . . . 
If we neglect to elect a State Legislature next August, our Constitu- 
tion will eventually die, for all the offices under it will become vacant, 
and there would be no means of again filling them. . . . The 
first one organized, if kept up, will be the one admitted ; nothing on 
earth can prevent it. . . . All that is necessary for us to do is 
to keep aloof from the doings of the bogus Legislature and keep up 
our own." 

Secretary Stanton arrived in Lawrence one month, in 
advance of Governor Walker, and it was on April 24th 
that he made the address in which he used the vigorous 
language heretofore referred to. On the evening of this 
address, Stanton and his companion, Mr. McLean, and 
Horace White of the Chicago Tribune, were entertained 
at tea by Governor Robinson, where free discussions of the 
condition of Kansas occurred. Governor Robinson and 
Mr. McLean carried on the conversation. Mr. McLean 
argued for the determination of the question by evidence 
at the polls that the Free-State party was in the majority 
in Kansas. Governor Robinson pressed him to distin- 
guish the members of the Free-State party, and also to de- 
fine what he meant by National Democracy of Kansas; 
while Mr. McLean urged that the Free-State men should 
come forward to the polls and vote, but this they refused 
to do. Governor Robinson maintained that the Free-State 
men of Kansas never recognized the Territorial Legisla- 
ture, as some people called it. That the Free-State men 
did not vote, because to do so would be a repetition of the 
old farce, everything being in the hands of the opposing 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 221 

party. The following quotation from the conclusion of 
the discussion is from the Chicago Tribune: 

" Robinson — The action of the Topeka Convention was predi- 
cated on certain facts which have been well known to the ' National 
Democracy ' from the beginning. Firstly, the Free-State men of Kan- 
sas have never recognized the ' Territorial Legislature/ as some 
people call it. Whoever else may recognize it or fail to recognize it, 
the Free-State men deny its legal existence. They claim that it is 
not even a government de facto. They do not appeal to its laws or 
have dealings with its officers. No one pretends to execute these 
laws, and they exist merely for the benefit of the public printer. 
Consequently, the Free-State men see nothing in the proposed election 
but the old farce with new decorations and scenery. No law requires 
them to vote. They will not interfere with your voting. They have 
no objection to your doing all the voting. In this way you will 
secure unanimity, and I see no reason why the plan should give the 
' National Democracy ' a moment's uneasiness. Secondly, the law 
providing for this election takes all power out of the hands of the 
people, after the delegates are elected. It thrusts the Constitution 
into Congress as the work of the people, without giving the people an 
opportunity to pronounce upon that work. These delegates may 
frame a constitution infringing the liberty of speech and the press. 
They may decree test oaths as a qualification for voting. They may 
make murder a bailable offense. They may infringe the right of the 
people to assemble together in a peaceable manner to consult for 
their common good. They may establish negro slavery, or any other 
kind of slavery, as a permanent institution of Kansas. They may 
take away the right of amending this Constitution from the latest 
posterity. We have had specimens of all these things in Kansas 
legislation, and we Tiave no business to infer that the creatures of any 
legislative body will be better than the Legislature itself. The Free- 
State men regard it as indispensable that the work of the Constitu- 
tional Convention be submitted for the approval or disapproval of 
those whose welfare it affects. Thirdly, the Free-State men consider 
that the whole machinery of this election is thrown into the hands 
of their bitter enemies, and that no safeguards are interposed for 
their protection, either in the vote itself or the subsequent counting 
of votes. I need not enumerate for this company the provisions of 
that law in this regard. The experience of the Free- State men on 



222 LIFE OF CHABLES BOBINSON 

former occasions has not been such as to impress them favorably 
with the elective franchise as operated by the bogus Legislature. 
Men who have lived two years in Kansas understand that the Free- 
State party have no rights on election day which Mis-sourians are 
bound to respect, and none which the United States Government 
takes the trouble to ' recognize.' The provision of your law con- 
cerning the registration of votes does not prevent the registration of 
all the unemployed residents of western Missouri, nor does it require 
that the actual residents of Kansas shall be registered. Your reg- 
istry being perfected, the result of the election is ascertained before 
the voting commences. After the voting is finished, we have no guar- 
antee that the returns will correspond either with the ballots depos- 
ited or the printed list of qualified voters. I am free to confess that 
I doubt the integrity of three-fourths of the officers who will conduct 
this election. We are solicited, in the face of a two-years experience, 
which requires no comment from me, to confide everything we hold 
dear as American citizens to the keeping of our worst enemies, and 
go away trusting to their honor, presuming that they have sufficient 
virtue to register none but actual citizens of Kansas, to register all 
the citizens of Kansas, to receive the votes of all the citizens who 
choose to vote, to make the returns according to the votes, even in 
case such returns ruin the business which has afforded them occupa- 
tion for two years. The Free-State men of Kansas are not such 
idiots. The evidence is overwhelming that this election was not in- 
tended to ascertain the relative strength of parties in Kansas, but to 
entrap our party, defraud them of all their rights, and make a slave 
State of Kansas. So much for the Topeka Convention. How have 
subsequent events shown the propriety of their action? Here are two 
thousand Missourians registered as voters in Douglas county — men 
whom no citizen of Kansas ever heard of except as he met them on 
some foraging excursion. We look over this list for the names of the 
oldest citizens of Lawrence, and they are not to be found. In Quin- 
daro, where I live, public opinion is divided on the question whether 
the census-taker has been there or not. Two or three men pretend to 
have seen him. I haven't, and I doubt whether he has been there at 
all. If he has ever visited that place, it was not for the purpose of 
completing the registry of Wyandotte county. The list was pub- 
lished some weeks ago. and our town left entirely out of the reckon- 
ing. Some of the neglected ones in the town of Wyandotte have sent 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 223 

their names to the proper officer, with evidence of their citizenship, 
and he has either refused or neglected to place them on the list. 

" At Osavvatomie, I am informed, three-fourths of the list is made 
up of citizens of the adjoining county in Missouri. At a place thirty 
or forty miles southwest of here the citizens do not know, except by 
hearsay, that there is to be any election. They have never known, 
from the beginning, whether they were enjoying the blessing of a 
sheriff and county judge or not. They don't know whether they have 
a census-taker among them or not, and I should judge they didn't 
care. These are specimens of our Territorial job-work. To my mind 
they demonstrate that the action of the Topeka Convention was en- 
tirely proper, and if that convention were to be held over again, my 
part in it would be simply a repetition of my part in the other. 

" Stanton — But you have an ample remedy for all this alleged 
fraud, in the law creating these officers. Bring me one man who has 
taken the proper steps to have his name registered and been refused, 
and then see what becomes of the officer. Establish that tne list of 
Douglas county contains the name of one resident of Missouri, and 
see how rapidly that list is expurgated of the falsehood. The trouble 
is, you Free-State men are not willing to take any steps looking to 
the correction of the evils you complain of. The Executive of this 
Territory is here for the purpose of administering impartial justice, 
and when you have been denied redress in that quarter, I will ac- 
knowledge for one that there is something radically wrong in the 
government of Kansas. 

" Kobinson — Having determined to take no part in the election, 
we are naturally not solicitous about the purity of the voting-lists, or 
of the voters themselves: but you now offer us a practical impossibil- 
ity. In the first place, the citizens of Quindaro, Lawrence and Osa- 
watomie are men of business. Their time is valuable to them and 
indispensable to their families. They cannot leave their business and 
go hunting a sheriff or census-taker, particularly if he spends most of 
his time in another State. The gentleman with the census roll was 
appointed to visit them, not they the officer. I have no time to waste 
in that way, and I presume my neighbors will say the same thing. 

" The other proposition, that we show the lists to be fraudulent in 
respect of the names of Missourians, is an utter impossibility. It is 
an attempt to establish a negative. Mr. Jones Jenkins may be a resi- 
dent of Westport, Missouri. I may know it, and a dozen others ruay 
know the same thing. We may establish that Mr. Jones Jenkins 



224 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

does live in West-port, Missouri. We then visit twenty of the oldest 
residents of Douglas county, and inquire whether Mr. Jenkins has 
ever resided there. They have never heard of any such man in that 
vicinity. Here we have established that one person bearing this name 
lives in Missouri, and have shown that twenty citizens of Douglas 
county never heard of him in Kansas. Is this legal demonstration? 
We have not shown that some man bearing this name positively does 
not live somewhere in the county. We have not shown that he may 
not have lived here, and gone East for his family. We have not 
and never can show that he was not here on the day prescribed by 
the law, and that he did not answer every requirement of that law. 
When we multiply this case by two thousand, we appreciate some- 
what the nature of the job we have undertaken. 

" Stanton — I think, Doctor, you magnify all the difficulties 
which stand in the way of a fair election. Concerning the submis- 
sion of the Constitution to a subsequent vote of the people, I would 
say that it is proposed to make a provision of this sort, and, so far as 
my influence extends, it shall be exerted to bring about a full expres- 
sion of the popular will on the subject of the domestic institutions of 
the Territory, after the work of the convention is complete. 

" Robinson — We do not doubt your good intentions, Governor, 
in this, as in other matters; but we very gravely doubt the extent of 
your power. Several governors of Kansas have been greatly surprised 
to find how short a distance their influence extends. I believe that 
the right of calling out the militia has been placed in the hands of 
county sheriffs. You will doubtless regard this a very great in- 
fringement on the privileges of the Executive. 

" Stanton — Oh, you must be mistaken. No Legislature, no 
sheriff, will undertake to call out the militia while I hold the office 
of Governor. Ridiculous! 

"McLean — But they will when the occasion comes. It was 
found necessary on the part of the Legislature to reserve this right. 

" Stanton — Reserve! No such right ever belonged to any Legis- 
lature under the sun. Nonsense! 

" McLean — Nonsense or not, we have the right of calling out 
militia, and intend to exercise it whenever we find it necessary; 
that's all! 

" Stanton — Oh, you are altogether mistaken, etc. 

" I need not follow this pleasant little expression of views any 
further. Our party adjourned to the Cincinnati House and listened 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STETJGGU3 225 

to Mr. Stanton's speech. I have already made this letter longer than 
I had intended. The conversation above reported is eminently sug- 
gestive, and I think speaks for itself. If it should meet the eyes of 
any of the participants, they will recognize its correctness in all essen- 
tial particulars; and if I set down aught in malice, I trust the Tribune 
will be open for the amplest correction to the injured party. Messrs. 
Stanton and McLean having expressed their views publicly and with- 
out reserve in the streets of Lawrence, both before and after this 
dialogue, it will not be deemed any breach of confidence that some 
portion of those views should take on the illumination of the types." 1 

It was the morning after this address of Stanton's that 
the citizens of Lawrence requested fair treatment, and 
were refused by Stanton because he would have to follow 
the law. Subsequently Governor Walker issued a lengthy 
address to the people. It was the old story of pledging 
his support to the Territorial laws. He also insisted that 
the Lecompton Constitution should be framed and sub- 
mitted to the people for adoption or rejection. But the 
struggle could never be settled in this way, because the 
Free-State men would not recognize the Territorial Legis- 
lature and the Territorial laws, and therefore could not 
vote at the elections proposed by this government. 

The " bogus Legislature " which met in 1855 had passed 
an act incorporating the town of Lawrence, giving it the 
same charter rights as were granted to the town of Leaven- 
worth. 2 As the people of Lawrence were ignoring the laws 
of the "bogus Legislature," they would not incorporate 
the town under this charter. Again, the second Legisla- 
ture, which was Proslavery and deemed illegal, granted the 
town a second charter. 3 The Free- State town of Law- 
rence failed to organize under this charter also, for the 

1 Kansas Conflict, p. 346. 

2 Laws of Kansas Territory, 1855, p. 822. 

3 Laws of Kansas Territory, 1857. p. 343. 
—15 



226 LIFE OF CHAKLES ROBINSON 

same reason as stated before. The citizens of Lawrence 
were ready to obey the national laws, but they recognized 
no Territorial laws as binding when brought into existence 
as the result of systematic fraud. But, as the town grew 
rapidly, it was in great need of municipal organization. 
The citizens, therefore, in accordance with the rights of 
freemen, met and created a charter, and subsequently ef- 
fected an organization on July 13th, 18 57. 1 The com- 
mittee who presented the charter also addressed a letter to 
the people, explaining the cause for their action. They set 
forth the necessity of law, order, sanitation, police organi- 
zation, protection from fire, etc., and asserted that " all the 
varied necessities of a rapidly growing city demand a 
municipal government." They stated that " The only 
point of embarrassment in this movement arises from the 
unhappy condition of political affairs in our Territory. 
Under ordinary conditions the more regular method would 
be to obtain a charter from the Territorial authorities. 
As the Territorial Government, however, in no sense repre- 
sents the people of Kansas, was not elected by them, and 
can have no right to legislate for them, we cannot accept 
of a charter from it. There is, therefore, left us only the 
alternative of a charter springing directly from the people, 
or continuance in our present unorganized condition." 2 

Here was a town which had ignored two charters granted 
to it by the Territorial Legislature, because it maintained 
that the law-making power which had granted these char- 
ters was not legally constituted. " If in the final settle- 
ment of affairs it should be determined that the Territorial 

J Private Laws of Kansas Territory, 1858, p. 187. Blackmar : Annals of a Historic 
Town, Aiuer. Hist, Assn. Reports, 1893, p. 496. 
2 Andreas, p. 32S. 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 227 

laws were legitimate and authoritative, the citizens of 
Lawrence would have been found outside of the law. As 
it was, they were in a state of rebellion against the assumed 
authorities. Such is the close relation of successful revo- 
lution to treason, of anarchy to a free democracy." 1 On 
July 15th, 1857, Governor Walker issued a long procla- 
mation, in which he greatly magnified the offense of the 
town of Lawrence, declaring the act of organization, if car- 
ried out, treasonable, assuring them that they were on the 
brink of an awful precipice, and solemnly announcing that 
" It becomes my duty to warn you before you take the fatal 
leap into the gulf beyond." As the citizens of Lawrence 
had not heeded his previous admonitions, he resolved to call 
out the military, and therefore sent Col. Cooke with four 
hundred dragoons to enforce the law. Walker himself also 
appeared to superintend the work of suppressing the " re- 
bellion." He placed the town under military rule, and 
subjected the surrounding country to military inspection. 
The offending town did not place itself in opposition to 
this military rule, but the people went about attending to 
their various duties, looking after the conditions of the 
town and performing the functions of a municipal govern- 
ment. After a few weeks the farce ended by the with- 
drawal of the troops. 

But the people of Lawrence still retained their inde- 
pendent spirit, and took opportunity to show their opposi- 
tion to the Territorial Government. As an example of 
this, on June 1st, 1857, there was a meeting at Lawrence 
for the purpose of considering the payment of taxes levied 
by the " bogus Legislature." A resolution was adopted 

1 Blackmar : Annals of a Historic Town, p. 488. 



228 XJFE OF CHAELES HOBINSON 

"that . . . no good citizen will in any manner furnish 
aid or comfort to an assessor or collector of taxes, or render 
to him a list of valne of his property." Governor Robinson 
was appointed on a committee of five to present this reso- 
lution to any collector that might appear. 

Prior to this, Governor Walker, in his address of May 
7th, 1857, had made the following statements concerning 
the election of delegates to the Lecompton Convention, at 
which time, it will be remembered, the Free- State men 
refused to vote, because they were not granted a fair rep- 
resentation among the officers of election. Governor 
Walker stated that all the people of Kansas were entitled 
to take part in this election, and added that " I see in this 
act, calling the convention, no improper or unconstitu- 
tional restriction upon the right of suffrage;" and " If by 
fraud or violence a majority shall not be permitted to 
vote, there is a remedy ... in the refusal of Congress 
to admit the State into the Union under such a constitu- 
tion." He also said that the Constitution once framed 
would have to be submitted to the people for a vote, and, 
in the words of President Buchanan, who had given in- 
structions to Governor Walker, that the people " must be 
protected in the exercise of their right to vote for or 
against that instrument," Walker was thus urging the 
people to vote, but his address was answered by the Topeka 
Convention on June 9th, 1857, which resolved to hold 
firmly to the Topeka Constitution, to repudiate the " bogus 
Legislature," and to refrain from voting for delegates to 
the Lecompton Convention. He was further answered by 
Governor Robinson's message to the Topeka Legislature 
June 9th, 1857, which was given up wholly to a state- 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 229 

ment of the Free-State position and the use of Governor 
Walker's own arguments to justify that position. 1 

Another Free- State convention was held at Topeka, 
July 15-16, 1857, which again repudiated the Territo- 
rial Legislature and its laws. James H. Lane was presi- 
dent of this convention, which resolved to hold firmly to 
the Topeka Constitution, and to call another convention, to 
meet in August at Grasshopper Falls. In the mean time, 
a vote for officers under the Topeka Constitution showed 
that the Free-State men had 7,200 votes in the Territory, 
and it was well known that this was enough to give them 
a large majority over all the combined Proslavery votes 
that could be mustered against them. The Free-State 
people were now in a different position from that in which 
they had been before. Could an honest vote now be had on 
a constitution, everything would go in their favor. The 
trial of Governor Robinson for usurpation of office, which 
began August 18th, closed on the 20th. The jury reported 
that " since there was no State of Kansas there could be 
no Governor of the State and no usurpation of the office.'' 
This acquittal of the Governor of course allowed him more 
freedom of action. 

On August 24th a convention of Free-State men was 
held at General Spicer's, half-way between Lecompton and 
Lawrence. It was called under the auspices of G. W. 
Brown, and was equally attended by Proslavery men from 
Lecompton and radical Free-State men from Lawrence. 
It was called the "Conservative Free-State Convention/' 
and the whole meeting was turned into ridicule by these 
two parties, who alternately elected each other to positions 

1 See Appendix B. 



230 LIFE OF CHARLES KOBINSON 

in the convention and then declined. Geo. W. Deitzler, 
John Speer and others were among the radical men from 
Lawrence. It showed the folly of attempting to mingle 
Proslavery and Free-State men in conventions. Plainly, 
one party or the other must dominate in Kansas. This 
ended the attempt to make a "conservative Free-State" 
party. 

The convention at Grasshopper Falls, which met on 
August 26th, after a lengthy discussion determined to take 
part in the election of the new Territorial Legislature. 
There was, however, a serious division in the ranks of 
the Free-State men in regard to voting. It was held by 
many that, having repudiated the "bogus Legislature," 
and having held to the Topeka Constitution, it would be 
inconsistent to recognize the Territorial Legislature now 
by voting for its members. But the times had entirely 
changed. The Free-State men had demonstrated that they 
had a majority. Governor Walker had declared that they 
should have a fair election, and his intentions were evi- 
dently honest. Robinson, Lane and others saw the oppor- 
tunity, and strongly urged that they should go to the polls 
and vote, knowing well that if a fair vote were had they 
could outvote the Proslavery men. " Some," said Robin- 
son, "had f aith in the Governor's pledges, and some would 
not degrade themselves by recognizing the fraud, while 
still others were opposed to seeing the abandonment of the 
Topeka Constitution. This instrument, which had been 
resorted to as a means to an end to obtain the legislative 
power of the Territory, they regarded as the end to be 
attained." Robinson favored voting, although to do so 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 231 

would appear to be a practical denial of the former Free- 
State position on the " bogus Legislature." However, in 
politics as in war, there is always a time to cease holding 
to a point in order to gain a victory. On this occasion 
Robinson said : " Men who are too conscientious and too 
honorable to change their tactics with a change of circum- 
stances, are too conscientious for politics." 1 

In his speech on the resolutions which declared in favor 
of voting, Robinson said: 

" We started out on the Topeka Constitution, and I shall work 
under it; but here is a battery all the time at Leconipton playing 
upon us. Let us take the battery and use it for our own benefit, 
without defining the use we shall put it to, and thus avoid side 
issues in every county in the Territory. If we get the battery and 
spike it so it cannot be used against us, we shall have accomplished 
a purpose. I do not feel that there will be any backing down in 
doing so. I am more hopeful than some, and not quite so hopeful 
as others; but I have no doubt we shall be triumphant. From the 
census returns I am satisfied there is not a district in the Territory 
in which we have not a large majority of voters. If we are de- 
feated by fraud, we shall be in a position to show up the fraud. 
It has been said that I was always opposed to this movement. Such 
is not the ease. I have always been in favor of voting, with the 
least show of success in our favor." 

The election was held, and Walker threw out the fraud- 
ulent returns and issued certificates of election to the Free- 
State men for nine out of thirteen members of the Council 
and twenty-four out of thirty-five members of the House 
of Representatives. Robinson says of this act of Walker's 
in throwing out fraudulent returns : " This act, with Stan- 
ton's proclamation calling the Legislature together, will 
stand out in bold relief as the crowning acts of their ad- 

1 Spring : Kansas, p. 217. 



232 LIFE OF CHARLES KOBINSON" 

ministrations; and these acts the future historian to the 
latest time will never fail to record." 

The Legislature having passed into the hands of the 
Free-State party, there was but one opportunity left for 
the Pro-slavery people to establish their system, namely, 
to induce Congress- to recognize their constitution. The 
Constitutional Convention met at Lecompton on September 
7th, organized, and adjourned to October 19th. It then 
drew up a constitution, framed with the purpose of favor- 
ing slavery in the State. It asserted that " The right of 
property is before and higher than any constitutional sanc- 
tion, and the right of the slave-owner to such slaves and 
their increase the same as the right of any property what- 
ever." 1 This Constitution was sent to Congress without 
submitting it to a vote of the people of the Territory. 

The Free-State men began to look with alarm upon the 
movement, fearing that Congress would adopt this Consti- 
tution and force slavery upon the State. Accordingly, 
they resorted to the usual Kansas method of holding a con- 
vention, which met at Lawrence December 2d, to provide 
the most effective means of preventing the adoption of this 
Constitution by Congress. All of the important leaders of 
the Free-State movement were present and addressed the 
convention. Charles Pobinson presided. The secretaries 
wre William A. Phillips, A. Wattles, and E. G-. Macy. 
The committee on resolutions was J. IT. Lane, C. Vaughan, 
William V. Barr, J. Eymal, Charles F. Kob, H. Evans, 
S. Westover, Charles A. Foster, T. D wight Thacher, Gr. W. 
Gilmore, C. K Holliday, J. K Goodin, P. B, Plumb, L. F. 
Carver, and Gr. A. Cutler. 

1 Article VII, section 1.. 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 233 

The resolutions repudiated the Lecompton Constitution. 
On the motion of Judge Schuyler, they took a solemn oath 
with uplifted hands, and " appealed to the God of justice 
and equity, and entered into a league and covenanted with 
each other that we never, under any circumstances, per- 
mit the said Constitution, so framed and not submitted, to 
be the organic law of the State of Kansas ; and do pledge 
our lives, our fortunes, and honor, to ceaseless hostility to 
the same." They denounced the proposed elections Decem- 
ber 1st and January 4th, and asked the extra session of 
the Legislature to submit the Topeka and Lecompton Con- 
stitutions to a vote of the people, with the understanding 
that the constitution which received a majority of the legal 
votes of the State should become the law of the land. 

The next session of the Territorial Legislature, meeting 
December 7th, passed a bill providing for a vote on the Le- 
compton Constitution, to occur January 4th, the same day 
for the election of officers under that constitution. The 
Proslavery people adopted the same tactics as had been 
adopted by the Free-State men, and refused to vote on the 
subject, while over ten thousand votes were recorded 
against the Constitution. But, while no opposition vote 
was recorded, it had little effect on Congress. At Wash- 
ington the President was urging the adoption of the Le- 
compton Constitution, and the Senate passed a bill to that 
effect; but the House failed to concur. Finally, a com- 
promise measure called the English bill passed both houses, 
which submitted the Constitution to the will of the people 
of the State of Kansas. In accordance with the provisions 
of this bill, a vote was taken for or against the Constitu- 
tion on August 2d, 1858. The result was declared to be 



234 LIFE OF CHAEXES EOBINSON 

1,788 votes for the Constitution and 11,300 against it, 
leaving it defeated by a majority of 9,512. 

During all this time Dr. Robinson thoroughly understood 
the political situation in Kansas, and was particularly well 
versed in the relation of the Federal to Territorial politics. 
He understood how necessary a conservative policy was 
to the success of the Free-State cause in Kansas, and what 
harm would be wrought by a radical opposition of this 
party to the Federal Government, which was in sympathy 
with the Proslavery element in the Territory. His letter 
to Hon. Henry Wilson, later Vice-President of the United 
States, is a careful exposition of the political situation, and 
furnishes so vividly a record of the times of 1858, when 
matters were shaping themselves for the final victory or 
1861, that it is given in part: 

Lawrence, May 12th, 1858. 

My Dear Sir: Your favor of the 4th instant is received. You 
need have no fear of the adoption of Lecompton by the people of Kan- 
sas. The vote against it will probably be much larger than on the 4th 
of January last. All the Free-State men will vote against it, and 
one-half the Democrats. From letters I am receiving from the East, 
as well as from newspapers, I see that our Republican friends are 
unnecessarily alarmed. They evidently do not understand the pro- 
gram of the Democratic party. Either I am very much mistaken, 
or that party is as desirous of seeing Lecompton voted down as the 
Republicans, although, of course, they will not say so authoritatively. 
Why is this? you will ask. 

In the first place, they know that if Lecompton should go into 
the Union, the radical Republicans would go into the Senate. This 
could not be prevented unless the Free-State party made a fatal 
blunder. Also, the State Government and members of Congress 
would be Republican, and the Constitution would be changed in the 
"twinkling of an eye." Of this state of facts the administration 
became aware, and this, in my judgment, is the real reason why the 
Senate bill did not pass the House. Who believes now that English 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 235 

and Company could not have been induced to vote for the Senate bill 
had the proper arguments been used with them? Who believes that 
the South would have allowed us a vote on Lecompton had they be- 
lieved slavery would have gained anything by a refusal ? Eemember, 
the English bill passed by Southern votes, chiefly. Did they suppose 
that we would do anything else than vote the ordinance down? No! 
They might possibly hope to induce a few to change their votes, had 
they desired to do so, but no man could be so infatuated as to sup- 
pose that a majority of ten thousand could be changed right-about- 
face in the short space of six months; for the English ordinance is 
really no more and no less than Lecompton, except that it has less 
land than when we defeated it in January. 

What then is the plan? As I have obtained it from no man or 
men, but simply from observation, I betray no confidence in revealing 
it. We are to remain a Territory till the new Congress meets, in 
December. 1850, if no longer. In the mean time the administration 
of the government in Kansas will be eminently just and fair. All 
disturbances will be quelled at once, and Free-State men will be as 
promptly protected in their persons, property and rights as the 
Proslavery men. The Democratic party will take the lead in aiding 
in developing the resources of Kansas, and will claim to be the special 
friend of an infant State. All the old Democrats will be induced to 
return to the fold, and as many new converts made as possible. 
In this way it is hoped that Kansas will come into the Union with a 
Democratic State Government, Senators, etc. 

What are their chances of success, and upon what do they build 
their hopes? It is believed that a majority of the people of Kansas 
would have been Democrats to-day had it not been for the war 
of the administration upon Free-State men, and a very large 
number of the Free-State party who have been Democrats would 
now act with that party were it what it was when they came to 
Kansas, or when the Kansas-Nebraska Bill was passed. Many of 
these men would remain in the Free-State party or join the Repub- 
lican party were they fellowshipped fully by the organs and letter- 
writers of that party; but they are given the cold shoulder or are 
positively assailed in the leading Republican journals of the country 
without cause, and they will naturally become alienated as soon as 
they can find their old party conducting its affairs honorably in 
Kansas. Another class of our people, who were Whigs or Republicans 
in '56, make antislavery everywhere, except in Territories, a secondary 



236 LIFE OF CHAELES ROBINSON 

consideration, and are disposed to look after the material interests of 
the State of their adoption. They also are suspected and given the 
cold shoulder by the more zealous antislavery members of the party, 
and assailed through Republican journals. Still another class, who 
are strong antislavery men, and who feel that it is important to de- 
velop the resources of Kansas, build her roads and plant her literary 
and other institutions as well as make her a free State, and who 
favor a conciliatory course towards members of the party, are sus- 
pected by the censors of the party, and all sorts of falsehoods, sus- 
picions and insinuations are sent to the four winds by means of 
these journals. 

The Democratic party here are evidently hoping that the above 
elements will be driven from the Republican party, and either join 
the Democratic direct, or a middle party with which the Democrats 
will unite and carry the elections. The Democrats see that the Free- 
State party has an element that will destroy it as soon as per- 
manent peace is established. It is an element that would destroy 
any party in any State if allowed full scope. It is well known that 
a large number of our leading Republican journals of the country 
support correspondents in Kansas who as a general thing have but 
little if any interest in the material welfare of Kansas, but who 
are zealous reformers, and many of them excellent men. From 
correspondents the tendency is for them to become mere partisans, 
and if partisans aspirants, and if aspirants apt to imagine every- 
body wrong who does not think with and support them. These imag- 
inations are apt to get into their correspondence as truths, and when 
they come back to Kansas in some leading journal, all who may differ 
from these aspiring correspondents consider themselves wronged, 
their position wrongly stated or not stated at all, their reasons per- 
verted or omitted entirely, and the result is apt to be heartburnings 
and jealousies and a coldness towards a party whose organs are used 
to misrepresent, prevent, and perhaps belie the history of the State. 
On this element I have reason to believe the Democrats place great 
reliance. If these correspondents acted the part of impartial and 
disinterested historians, or confined their one-sided strictures to the 
opponents of the Free-State party, they might be of service and not 
destructive to the party; but when the Republican party of the 
country support a class of partisans, office-seekers, etc., who traduce 
or praise by the column whatever or whoever they may deem for 
their interest, it will naturally alienate from that party all office: 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 237 

seekers, — and nearly all are aspiring in new countries, — who have to 
support themselves by the labor of their hands, and contend against 
the Eepubliean journals of the country. . . . 

While the Lecompton Constitution was pending in Con- 
gress, the radical elements of the Free-State party desired 
to have a new constitution. There was little hope that the 
Topeka Constitution would he acknowledged by Congress, 
and hence become the supreme law of Kansas when the 
Territory became a State. The Territorial Legislature, 
which it will be remembered had a majority in favor of the 
Free-State cause, voted to hold a constitutional convention 
for the purpose of creating a new constitution, radically 
opposed to the Lecompton Constitution. A bill for this 
purpose was introduced January 12th, 1858, by John 
Speer. For two years the people had perseveringly adhered 
to the Topeka Constitution. Governor Denver was opposed 
to any more constitutional conventions, as he stated there 
were constitutions enough, already, and he took care that 
the bill should die, although he avoided a formal veto of it. 
He asserted that the bill arrived at his office within three 
days of the final adjournment of the Legislature. Accord- 
ing to the law, all such bills would die if not signed, or 
vetoed and returned to the Legislature with the objections 
of the Governor. If the Governor vetoed it, there was a 
possibility of its being passed over his head by a two-thirds 
vote in its favor; but this the Governor took care should 
not be done. Being opposed to the Constitutional Conven- 
tion, he took this way of preventing it by " killing " the bill 
which provided for it. 

The Legislature, however, maintained that the bill was 
in the Governor's hands in ample time to become a law if 



238 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

he failed to veto it. Tlie Legislature therefore passed a 
resolution introduced by John Speer, declaring that the 
bill had passed, and that it was in the hands of the Gover- 
nor three days prior to the final adjournment of the Legis- 
lature. Therefore a constitutional convention was called. 
On March 9th an election of delegates to this convention 
was held, and the convention met on March 2, at Minneola. 
This convention had many able men among its members, 
though its composition was different from the body of men 
who had been struggling for the Topeka Constitution. 
The convention early fell into disrepute, because there was 
in connection with it a land scheme which was generally 
supposed to be a swindle. Minneola was an open prairie 
in Franklin county, consisting only of the name without 
the town. Of the fifty-two members of this convention, 
thirty-five were interested in the land scheme. So great 
was the prejudice against this body that they were obliged 
to leave their hastily erected convention hall, which was to 
be the capitol of the State, and go to Leavenworth to com- 
plete their work. The motion prevailed at one time to ad- 
journ from Minneola to Topeka, but this idea was aban- 
doned, and the convention adjourned to meet at Leaven- 
worth ; hence this convention is always known as the Leav- 
enworth Convention. The constitution that it drew up was 
a well-written document, perhaps stronger than any that 
had yet been made. In some respects it was an improve- 
ment on the Topeka Constitution. Its real purpose ap- 
peared to be to place the radicalism of the Free-State party 
against the radicalism of the Lecompton Constitution. 
The action of this convention had much to do in pre- 
cipitating the struggle against the Lecompton Constitution 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 239 

before the Congress of the United States. The most strik- 
ing peculiarity in this new Constitution was the liberal 
clause in regard to suffrage. Section 1, article 2, says: 

" In all elections not otherwise provided for by this Constitu- 
tion, every male citizen of the United States of the age of twenty-one 
years or upward, and who shall have resided in the State six months 
next preceding such election, and ten days in the precinct in which 
he may offer to vote, and every male person of foreign birth of the 
age of twenty-one years or upward, who shall have resided in the 
United States one year, in this State six months, and in the precinct 
in which he may offer to vote ten days next preceding such election, 
and who shall have declared his intention to become a citizen of the 
United States conformably to the laws of the United States ten days 
preceding such election, shall be deemed a qualified elector.'" 

The word " white," which preceded " male " in the To- 
peka Constitution, was omitted in the Leavenworth Consti- 
tution, and this fact in itself aroused great opposition to 
the instrument, all the Proslavery forces being antagonistic 
to this innovation. 

April 28-29, 1858, a Free-State Convention was held 
at Topeka to nominate officers under the Leavenworth 
Constitution. The result was that Henry J. Adams was 
nominated for Governor, Cyrus K. Holliday for Lieuten- 
ant-Governor, and E. P. Bancroft of Emporia for Secretary 
of State. After completing the work of nominating can- 
didates, the convention adopted a platform which accepted 
the Leavenworth Constitution, and pledged themselves to 
favor its adoption and ratification by the people. They 
also adopted measures in reference to the Lecompton Con- 
stitution, which was the great bugbear of the Free-State 
people at this time. On May 18th the Leavenworth Con- 
stitution was submitted to the people for ratification. 
Only about 4,000 votes were cast, and about one-fourth of 



240 LIFE OF chabl.es bobinson 

them were in the negative. Perhaps the stigma placed on 
this constitution by its origin had much to do with its de- 
feat, for in many respects it was an excellent instrument. 
Thus failed the third constitution proposed for the organi- 
zation of Kansas. 

A more elaborate discussion of the events connected with 
the history of the Leavenworth Constitution, though it 
would be extremely interesting in many respects, would be 
out of place in this volume, because Governor Robinson, 
the subject primarily under discussion, was not in any way 
connected with the Leavenworth Constitution. It is suf- 
ficient to say that the making of this constitution is one part 
of the Free-State movement with which he appears not to 
have been connected ; and the fact that it was an ignomini- 
ous failure is of some significance, although it is not in- 
tended to insist that failure attended every movement in 
the State with which Governor Robinson was not con- 
nected. While the Governor was ready, however, to work 
with any united party to forward the interests of the Free- 
State cause, it appears that the Leavenworth Constitution 
did not appeal strongly to him as a means of settling the 
questions at issue. Moreover, he was serving as nominal 
Governor under the Topeka Constitution, and did not care 
to sever his connection with this constitution without a 
good cause. It did not appear that the people were ready 
to adopt a constitution directly opposed to the Lecompton 
Constitution, and thus prolong the struggle. The people, 
too, seemed to have grown tired of constitution-making; 
and to this cause, among others, must be attributed the 
failure of the Leavenworth Constitution. Had this same 
constitution come up later, at the time of the adoption of 



TEE CONSTITUTIONAL STKUGGLE 241 

the Wyandotte Constitution, there is no reason to suppose 
that it would not have been adopted. But it arrived at an 
inopportune moment. Moreover, the Governor had vetoed 
the bill providing for the convention that framed it, and 
hence the instrument was, in the eyes of many, illegal. 
Finally, there was developed a land scheme in connection 
with the location of the capital of the State. The plan of 
the organizers of the new government under the Leaven- 
worth Constitution was to make Minneola the capital. 
As might have been expected, in the case of an instrument 
having so unfortunate an origin, the Leavenworth Consti- 
tution ended in ignominious failure. 

But though there was nothing in this constitution to com- 
mend it to Robinson as a leader, or to the people as voters, 
and it failed, yet, the leaders who favored it were deter- 
mined to put it in force in opposition to the Territorial 
Government. These ultra radicals expected, in case the 
Lecompton Constitution should be adopted by Congress, to 
put the Leavenworth Government into operation in opposi- 
tion to the Federal Government. Or, as one of the most 
officious said, " If the people's government is put into 
operation and the Federal power attempts to interfere, 
there will be a desperate struggle." 

The advocates of the Leavenworth Constitution elected 
their officers and completed their organization. Beyond 
their they accomplished very little to forward this unpopu- 
lar movement. The matter of the organization of the State 
of Kansas under the Leavenworth Constitution was pre- 
sented to Congress on January 6, 1859, but no action was 
taken concerning it. 

The election of members of the fourth Territorial Leg- 
— 16 



24:2 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

islature occurred October 4th, 1858, and the Legislature 
convened at Lecompton on January 3d, 1859. On the fol- 
lowing day it adjourned to Lawrence, where it met on Jan- 
uary 7th. The Legislature was now composed of a major- 
ity of Free-State men, and they proceeded to repeal a large 
portion of the so-called "bogus laws" of 1855. All the 
land laws of 1857 and the laws of 1858 were also carefully 
revised. The people were still determined to become a 
State of the Union under the Free-State banner. This 
Legislature, uninfluenced by the failure of the three consti- 
tutions that had already been constructed, boldly proposed 
a new constitutional convention. The question of holding 
such a convention was submitted to the people, with the 
result that 5,306 votes were cast for and 1,425 against the 
constitutional convention. The delegates to this conven- 
tion were chosen June 7th, 1859. 

The Constitutional Convention met at Wyandotte, on 
July 5th. It was composed, to a large extent, of new men. 
But few members of the Topeka, Lecompton and Leaven- 
worth conventions were present. The convention started 
with new material and with a new purpose, and, so far as 
any political influences were concerned, without much ref- 
erence to what other constitutional conventions had done. 
It had before it the experience of the other constitutional 
conventions, but it had to meet new conditions. There ap- 
peared, however, to be a persistency of ideas respecting the 
treatment of the African race, for, strange to say, this con- 
vention held to the old phrase in the Topeka Constitution, 
that every " white " male person should have the right of 
suffrage, instead of adopting the radical view of the Leav- 
enworth Constitution, that every male citizen of the United 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 243 

States should have that right. This shows that after all, 
the people of Kansas had not fully realized what would 
he the final outcome of the war against slavery, namely, 
the full and free admission of emancipated slaves to citizen- 
ship. The opposition to the introduction of the negro, 
bond or free, into the Territory of Kansas, fills the reader 
of Kansas history with surprise. IsTor was it a passing- 
whim or notion, or, indeed, a failure to completely organize, 
for the Constitutional amendment submitted in 1867 to 
strike out the word " white " was defeated at the polls by 
a large majority. It could only be accounted for from two 
points of view: one, that there was a great diversity of 
views among the Free-State men respecting the negro; 
and the other, that a free State could better be established 
by his entire exclusion. 

As before stated, the election of delegates to the conven- 
tion showed that there were new conditions to be considered, 
for out of the whole membership of the convention only 
seven had been members of previous constitutional conven- 
tions of Kansas that made the several defunct constitutions. 
But the men who assembled to make the constitution had 
for precedents the constitutions of other States, and had 
also the results of the constitution-making in Kansas. 
While the latter had more or less influence, the constitution 
was largely taken from the constitutions of Ohio, Indiana, 
and Iowa, the first being most used; while the Bill of 
Bights of the Leavenworth Constitution was used. It was 
thus that the many old leaders of the various political fac- 
tions in Kansas were in the background during the forma- 
tion of the constitution under which the State was to come 
into the Union. 



244 LIFE OF CHARLES EOBINSON 

The convention finally completed its labors and presented 
to the citizens of Kansas the Wyandotte Constitution, 
which was adopted on October 4th, 1859, by a vote of 
10,421 for its adoption, there being only 5,530 against it. 
So far as Kansas is concerned, this completed the Consti- 
tutional Struggle, although, owing to adverse circumstances 
at Washington, a long time was destined to elapse before 
the Federal Government should recognize this action and 
create a State out of the new Territory. Finally, after 
many difficulties, the Constitution was recognized, and 
President Buchanan signed the bill for the admission of 
Kansas into the Union on January 29th, 1861. 

Before leaving this subject it is well to refer to a phase 
of the Constitutional Struggle which relates more especially 
to political organization. The purpose of the Free-State 
organization and the Topeka Constitution have been clearly 
pointed out. Those who have followed the writer thus far 
will have observed how the service and efficiency of the 
Free-State party gradually declined, and how the party 
finally became disintegrated as new political forces arose. 
The rapid tendency shows that disintegration set in at the 
time of the Grasshopper Falls Convention, August 26th, 
1857, and was immediately dependent upon the fact of a 
majority of Free-State men in the Territory. 

Again, on December 23d and 24th, the Free-State Con- 
vention of December 2d held an adjourned meeting at Law- 
rence, in which the policy of voting for officers under the 
Lecompton Constitution was freely discussed. Governor 
Robinson and others supported the policy of voting. A 
mass convention, called to assemble at the same time and 
at the same place, held alternate sessions with the delegate 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 245 

convention. In this convention a resolution to instruct 
the delegate convention to nominate State officers under the 
Lecompton Constitution was laid upon the table. Subse- 
quently a group of Free-State men assembled, on the even- 
ing of the 24th, after the adjournment of the mass conven- 
tion, and nominated a State ticket to be supported on the 
4th of January, the time of election of officers under the 
Lecompton Constitution. 

The next step in the downward tendency of the Free- 
State organization is observed in the meeting of the Free- 
State Legislature at Lawrence, on January 7th, 1858, 
where the Territorial Legislature was in session. At this 
time the Free- St ate Legislature asked the Territorial Leg- 
islature to substitute the State for the Territorial organi- 
zation. As both legislatures were composed of Free-State 
men, it was inevitable that their forces should be united in 
some way. As a final result of this meeting the Topeka 
Legislature surrendered its claim to power to the Territo- 
rial Legislature. This was practically the death-blow of 
the Free-State organization. An attempt was made to 
revive the Free-State party in a convention held at Big 
Springs May 12th, 1859. George W. Smith called the 
convention to order, and Robert Riddle, of Jefferson 
county, presided. The convention did little more than re- 
port resolutions and give evidence that the Free-State party 
had done its work ; and this convention was its last effort. 

A very significant event occurred, however, which tended 
to reorganize the political forces on a national basis, — the 
organization of the Republican party, which occurred at 
Osawatomie, on May 18th, 1859. This convention was 
composed of representative men from every portion of the 



246 3LIFE OF CHAEXES KOBJNSOK 

Territory which had been settled. It was a difficult mat- 
ter to bring the diverse elements there represented, having 
so many varied opinions of organizations, into a harmoni- 
ous union on a national basis. 

Of all those persons who were influential in the organiza- 
tion of this party, none were more prominent than Col. 
O. E. Learnard. There were two radical factions facing 
each other in this convention, and Col. Learnard, being 
practically independent of either, was chosen president of 
this body after it was called to order by Hon. T. Dwight 
Thacher. In the contest for the presidency Learnard was 
opposed by Phillips, the former receiving a handsome ma- 
jority. The resolutions prepared by the committee, of 
which Thomas Ewing, jr., was chairman, gave forth no 
uncertain sound on the question of slavery. It asserted 
" That Freedom is national, and Slavery sectional, and that 
we are inflexibly opposed to the extension of Slavery to 
soil now free." Also, " That the Wyandotte Constitutional 
Convention be requested to incorporate in the Bill of Rights 
in the Constitution a provision that neither slavery nor in- 
voluntary servitude shall ever exist in Kansas, except in 
punishment of crime." 

The resolutions set forth clearly the political condition 
of the Territory, and urged organization on a national 
basis. It was plain to be seen that henceforth in Kansas 
the political lines were to be more closely drawn. Not a 
little discussion arose on the various propositions, for, as 
Col. Learnard clearly states it, the Free-State party or- 
ganization had done its work, and something more definite 
must now be established. Or, as he briefly states : " The 
Free-State party organization, under whose banner the eon- 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 247 

test had been waged and won, had but a single plank and 
a single purpose — freedom for Kansas. Composed as it 
was, of men whose former party predilections and affili- 
ations were largely dissimilar, often antagonistic, they 
strove together loyally and faithfully until the victory was 
assured. When the purpose of that organization had been 
achieved and the time approached when, under a State 
organization, an alignment of parties on a national basis 
would necessarily ensue, a convention was called for the 
purpose of organizing the Republican party of Kansas, on 
May 18th, 1859, at Osawatomie; indeed, Republicanism 
inhered in Kansas, for it had been both its occasion and 
its inspiration. 77 1 

Perhaps the success of the resolutions, and in fact, of 
the whole organization, was in a measure due to the re- 
markable address made by Thomas Ewing. The president, 
Col. Learnard, had asked Mr. Ewing to address the con- 
vention, " but he replied that he could not make a speech 
after the address of Mark Parrott, who had spoken in the 
morning, and who was, perhaps, the most eloquent and ver- 
satile man we had in Kansas up to that time. 77 But while 
the deliberations of the convention were proceeding in the 
afternoon session, Mr. Ewing entered the hall, and the 
president requested him to come to the platform. To 
quote Col. Learnard: 

" He was an imposing figure, and had a commanding presence, — 
tall, and straight as an Indian. Coming forward, he faced the as- 
sembly, and as it seemed to me, stood for a full minute without 
uttering a syllable. When he commenced speaking it was slowly, 
deliberately, and with a tremulous voice. Every nerve in him seemed 
to be strung to its highest tension. He argued for the resolutions 

' rosas Historical Collections, Vol. 6, p. 313. 



248 ."LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

in a most effective speech, — the most effective, it seems to me now, 
I have ever heard in Kansas. After he concluded there was a further 
slight effort on the part of the opposition to modify the resolutions, 
but the call for a vote was general, which resulted in the adoption 
of the resolutions almost if not quite unanimously. The threatened 
difficulties and dissensions were overcome, and the Republican party 
in Kansas was an accomplished fact." * 

Thus the political disintegration of the Free-State party 
ended in the formal organization of the Republican party, 
which was to be the standard-bearer of freedom in Kansas. 
The Topeka Constitution, which represented the Free-State 
people, met with defeat in Congress ; the Lecompton Con- 
stitution, which met with much favor in Congress and by 
the Federal administration, was finally defeated by an 
honest vote in Kansas; the Leavenworth Constitution, 
never having very much of life, perished soon after its 
birth ; the Wyandotte Constitution had not yet been framed 
when the Republican party of Kansas was organized. 
Soon after this event the Constitution was created, ap- 
proved by the people, and subsequently recognized by the 
United States Government, when Kansas was admitted as 
a State. 

Hence it was the Republican State Convention which 
met at Topeka on October 12th, upon which devolved the 
nominations of officers under the Wyandotte Constitution. 2 
William A. Phillips presided at this meeting, and P. B. 
Plumb and J. A. Martin acted as secretaries. Charles 

1 Kansas Historical Collections, Vol. 6, p. 315. 

Horace Greeley made an effective and enthusiastic speech at Osawatomie on the da/ 
of the organization of the Republican party. But he was not invited to address the con- 
vention, and did not address it, although it is commonly reported that he did. Owing 
to the pronounced views of Mr. Greeley, it was feared that he might add to the inhar- 
mony that already prevailed, and prevent the successful organization of the party, be- 
cause it was alleged that he was not fully conversant with local affairs. 

2 Subsequently, at a meeting of the Republican Committee, Charles Robinson was 
appointed National Committeeman. 



THE CONSTITUTIONAL STRUGGLE 249 

Robinson, who was nominated for Governor, received a 
handsome majority over his opponent, H. P. Johnson. An 
election of State officers, under the Wyandotte Constitu- 
tion, was held December 6th, 1859, at which Charles 
Robinson received 7,908 votes, and his opponent, Samuel 
Medary, the nominee of the Democratic party, received 
5,395. J. W. Robinson was elected Secretary of State, and 
George S. Hillyer, Auditor. Thus was established the 
State Government of Kansas, under the Wyandotte Con- 
stitution ; although some time did elapse before it was put 
into operation. 



250 LIFE OF CHASLES BOB1NSON 



CHAPTER VII. 

LOCAL AFFAIRS. 

There were many local events which had much to do 
with the progress of the Free-State cause and the develop- 
ment of the Territory. It will be necessary to refer to a 
few of these in order to understand the true relation of 
Governor Robinson to the affairs concerning its progress. 
But of the great number of local events of vital importance 
to the settlers of Kansas, very little may be said. They 
deserve a better treatment, but want of space forbids the 
writer entering into the details of affairs. 

The material progress of the Territory was greatly re- 
tarded by the reign of terror which existed in the summer 
of 1856, prior to the coming of Governor Geary. The his- 
tory of this period has never been carefully written, nor, 
indeed, adequately represented from any standpoint. Per- 
haps it was because the principal leaders in the struggle 
were absent from the Territory a greater part of the time, 
or, in some instances, like those of Robinson and others, 
were confined in the prison at Lecompton. But those who 
remained in their homes were afraid of their lives, and 
those who found occasion to travel in the Territory were in 
constant fear of robbery and assassination. Armed bands 
of unscrupulous men roamed over the Territory, robbing 
and murdering Pree-State men and burning their homes. 
To counteract this, armed bands of rPee-State men were 
forced to defend themselves against marauding bands. 
However necessary this latter mode of defense may have 



LOCAL AFFAIE8 251 

appeared, it failed to restore quiet or to give protection to 
unoffending settlers. It represents the most disagreeable 
and dangerous era in the whole history of the early strug- 
gles in Kansas, and the most unpleasant phase to contem- 
plate, — and, indeed, the most difficult to relate. 

This line of conduct, representing savage predatory war- 
fare, was inaugurated by the act of John Brown in his 
brutal attack upon the citizens of the Pottawatomie. The 
act of taking five men in the dead of night, from their 
homes, and cruelly butchering them, caused the whole 
community to shudder. The suddenness and unexpected- 
ness of the attack, its vigorous and uncompromising char- 
acter, demonstrated to the Free-State men the possibilities 
of retaliatory measures. Here was a new line of warfare, 
adopted by one man who stood alone, being neither Pro- 
slavery nor Free-State, but just a bold Abolitionist who had 
sworn in his youth to wage uncompromising warfare against 
slavery. The ethics of the deed is not a subject for dis- 
cussion at this place. The fact of the deed and its influence 
should be mentioned here. 1 

The Proslavery people were astonished beyond measure, 
for they realized they had now an element to contend with 
that they had not hitherto met. But while this bloody deed 
sent consternation to the hearts of the Proslavery people 
of the neighborhood, many of them fleeing across the border 
for their lives, its really important effect was to arouse re- 
newed exertions on the part of the Proslavery people to 
carry on the conquest, and to give them an excuse for sav- 
age retaliation. On the other hand, the Free-State men 

1 See Cliapter X. 



252 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON" 

had a bold example of resistance, and they prepared to re- 
pel the Missouri invaders by force of arms. Band after 
band of Free-State men organized to meet bands of ruf- 
fians from Missouri, so that Kansas Territory found it- 
self, in the summer of 1856, overwhelmed by a border war- 
fare. The whole season was one of terror; people dared 
not leave their homes unarmed. !Not knowing when their 
persons would be attacked, their property taken, or their 
rude homes go up in flames, they lived in a state of perpet- 
ual fear. The early settlers suffered many and diverse 
trials and vicissitudes, but there was nothing that quite 
compared to the indignities of the summer of 1856 imme- 
diately following the Pottawatomie massacre. The lonely 
cabin and the unprotected settlement felt the full force of 
the merciless anarchy that followed. Special mention is 
here made of this fact, for there are those who still seem 
to think that Brown's savage blows protected the people 
and freed the State from ruffianism. 

The policy inaugurated by Brown and pursued vigor- 
ously by his followers was entirely opposed to the plans of 
Robinson and other Free-State leaders. To quote from 
Andreas' History of Kansas : " The aggressive warfare 
thus begun was not in accordance with the plans or pur- 
poses of the leaders of the Free-State movement; on the 
contrary, it was in direct opposition to their counsel, and 
had been persistently decried and successfully withstood 
up to this time. For the disorder that ensued, the Free- 
State organization was not in any way responsible. The 
aggressive movement at that time was an uncontrollable 

etc) 

outburst of rage long pent up, under the stress of suffer- 
ing, intimidation, insult, humiliation, and unrepressed 



_ 



LOCAL AFFAIRS 253 

rage, such as by hot-tempered men of courage could no 
longer be unresistingly endured." The writer then pro- 
ceeds to lay the blame at the door of those high in authority 
who planned and executed the outrages of fraudulent gov- 
ernment until they reached this climax of bloody strife. 
It is idle to conjecture whether peace might not have been 
better maintained by calmly waiting for the plans of the 
Free-State party to mature, for war came, and the Free- 
State people met as best they could their enemies, resisting 
them by force. "John Brown's bloody code of retaliation" 
ruled in the land. The whole trouble, from the Free-State 
standpoint, of this mode of warfare was that when lead- 
ers like Brown and Lane made a sudden attack and ob- 
tained victory, they were up and away immediately, leav- 
ing the people defenseless against the reaction caused by 
their vigorous warfare. Hence, whoever considers care- 
fully the effects of this war carried on by Brown and 
others, will see clearly that while they terrorized some of 
their enemies, they but excited others, who only waited 
their time to reap full vengeance on the Free-State people. 
Free-State and Proslavery people organized themselves 
into armed bands and companies, and carried on a warfare 
which was direful in its effect although not very dignified 
in its movements. There are numerous records of con- 
flicts, some of them great in one way and small in another. 
There were battles at Franklin, Fort Titus, Black Jack, 
Fort Saunders, Osaw atomic, Marais des Cygnes, and 
many other places. There were intrigues, plots and coun- 
ter-plots, and the individual struggles arising from per- 
sonal quarrels. In all of this, though not wanting in cour- 
age, Governor Bobinson occupied a calm and serene exte- 



254 LIFE OF CHAKLES KOBINSON 

rior. In very many ways lie attempted to establish order 
and to prevent strife and bloodshed. 

One of the most remarkable instances on record, of at- 
tempts to retaliate by means of force, was in regard to the 
contemplated destruction of the members of the Constitu- 
tional Convention who were chosen for the purpose of fram- 
ing the Lecompton Constitution. After the Territorial 
Legislature had been secured by the Free-State men, having 
a majority of votes in that body, the Proslavery people, 
having no other alternative, endeavored to push their con- 
stitution in the halls of Congress, secure its adoption, and 
create a new government under it. General Lane had 
been instructed to organize the military forces in Kansas 
for the protection of the ballot-box. He laid a plan to as- 
semble all of the Free-State forces, " to march on Lecomp- 
ton and kill every member of the Constitutional Conven- 
tion." It was given out also that he intended to destroy 
the Territorial Government and set up the Topeka Gov- 
ernment. At an evening meeting, held in Lawrence on 
the 17th of October, 1857, Lane's proposition for the de- 
struction of the Legislature and a military movement 
against all the Proslavery strongholds, was thoroughly 
discussed. After much discussion by Lane and others, 
Joel K. Goodin mounted the rostrum, and, by a skillful 
speech, turned the whole affair into ridicule. He went on 
to demand war, great sacrifices and the spilling of blood, 
and finally closed by saying: 

" ' But I may differ with some of you as to the proper place to 
begin this blood-spilling business. ['Hear! hear! '] No person has 
occasioned more strife, or been the more fruitful cause of our dis- 
turbances, than — James H. Lane! He demands blood! We all 
want it: but it is his blood that is demanded at this time; and if 



LOCAL AFFAIRS 255 

he presses on his assassination project, I propose he shall be the first 
person to contribute in that direction.' [The wildest cheering pos- 
sible, greatly prolonged, followed.] 

" General Lane seemed perfectly confounded. The whole throng 
were taken by surprise, and the business portion of it were delighted 
beyond expression that some person had the ability and sufficient force 
of character to meet a bold, bad man, and throttle his murderous 
plans at their inception.'*' * 

Governor Robinson was out of the town at the time of 
this meeting, and it was fortunate that Goodin had the 
courage and ability to defeat Lane's projects by a single 
speech. Having been thwarted in his attempt, Lane man- 
aged to have a military board created at a meeting of the 
Territorial Legislature, held on January 4th, 1858. He 
also managed to have himself appointed at the head of the 
military board. ^To sooner had he accomplished this than 
he began to concoct schemes for the carrying on of a cam- 
paign against all Proslavery settlements. There was a 
secret order called the " Danites," through which Lane was 
operating to carry out his various schemes. After Gov- 
ernor Robinson's return to Lawrence he was initiated into 
this society. After the initiation ceremonies were over, 
General Lane arose, in his dignified and mysterious way, 
to address the society. He began to give the details of a 
military plan in which he had ordered the various gen- 
erals to strike severally the important Proslavery towns of 
Kansas. Closing his address, he said : " It now remains 
for Lawrence to say what shall be done with Lecompton." 
After a few minutes silence, Governor Robinson was called 
for by various persons in the room to reply to Lane. Rob- 
inson asked by whose authority this was to be done. Lane 

144 Reminiscences of Governor Walker, 1 ' by Dr. a, W. Brown. Kansas Conflict, 
p. 370. 



256 LIFE OF CHABLES EOBINSON 

replied, " By the authority of the military board." Rob- 
inson replied that "Neither the military board nor any 
other board had any such authority." He also gave notice 
that anyone who attempted to carry out any such orders 
would have him to fight. As soon as Lane's plans were 
made known, the people opposed him in his nefarious busi- 
ness, and the matter was dropped. 1 The troubles inaugu- 
rated by predatory warfare continued throughout the Free- 
State period long after the Free-State party had won a 
victory. They laid the foundation for much of the guer- 
rilla warfare which existed along the border of Missouri 
and Kansas during the Civil War. Especially severe and 
annoying were the troubles that occurred in the southeast- 
portion of the Territory, where the reign of terror was pro- 
longed. 

There were troublesome times in Linn and Bourbon 
counties long after the Free-State men had gained a ma- 
jority in the Territorial Legislature, and when it was evi- 
dent that Kansas would eventually be admitted as a free 
State. The enmity and strife engendered by the border 
warfare would not down ; it increased in its terrors until 
people forgot for the time being that there was a civil gov- 
ernment which might redress their wrongs if appealed to 
in a legal way. The early experience with the "bogus 
Legislature" had taught them to distrust and ignore gov- 
ernment and to accept mob rule instead. The events hap- 
pening in the southeastern part of Kansas during the bor- 
der warfare are sufficient in number and magnitude to 
fill a volume. In brief, these events include the attempt 

1 Governor Robinson said that he did not know whether the order into which he 
was initiated was the so-called "Danites " or not, as he never attended another meet- 
ing after his initiation. 



LOCAL AFFAIRS 257 

on the part of the Proslavery people from Missouri and 
other Southern States to terrorize the Free-State people 
and to drive thern from the soil ; the John Brown massacre 
on the Pottawatomie ; the attempt to retaliate by the op- 
position as observed in the Marais des Cygnes massacre; 
and the bold warfare of James Montgomery and his follow- 
ers, who sought to retaliate for the wrongs done, and who 
were so embittered that they were ready to follow the idea 
of revenge to any extent. This border warfare began 
vigorously in this section shortly after the Pottawatomie 
massacre, and continued long after peace prevailed in other 
parts of the Territory. Each separate deed in this war- 
fare has found those who defend it on various grounds, but 
the historian deplores the whole category of sad occurrences 
that devastated the country and caused so much distress 
and even ruin toi thousands of settlers. 

So confused were the operations and so general the ruf- 
fianism tli at on the whole, Free-State and Proslavery must 
share the censure. Be that as it may, what concerns 
us at present is the attempt of Governor Denver to break 
up lawlessness and ruffianism in this section. 1 With this 
purpose in view and in the interest of peace and order, he 
resolved to make a tour of the counties most afflicted 
with these troubles. In June, 1858, the Governor, accom- 
panied by Charles Robinson and others, traveled through 
Johnson, Bourbon and Linn counties, talking with the 
people and suggesting means of substituting civil gov- 

1 Governor Denver was the fifth Governor sent out by the Democratic administra- 
tion for the purpose of favoring, so far as possible, the Proslavery cause in the Terri- 
tory, and he was the first of the five who had not been obliged to resigD his place and 
beat a hasty retreat from the gubernatorial office. But he had accepted his position 
with the intention of resigning soon thereafter on account of business relations. He 
therefore resigned October 10th, 1858, and was succeeded by Samuel Medary, of Ohio. 
Prior to Governor Denver's administration Woodson and Stanton had served as acting 
Governors, and Denver had served a while in the same capacity. 

— 17 



258 LIFE OF CHARLES EOBINSON 

eminent for border war. On the 12th and 13th of June 
quite a large number of the citizens of Bourbon county 
met at Fort Scott. There they were addressed by Governor 
Denver, Governor Robinson and Judge Wainwright, and 
were induced to pass resolutions abolishing feudal strife 
and border warfare and obligating themselves to main- 
tain law, order and justice through civil procedure. While 
this attempt of Governor Denver did not entirely put an 
end to the disturbances, it was of great service in estab- 
lishing order. Governor Denver speaks of the able services 
rendered by Charles Robinson in seconding his efforts in 
the establishment of order in the Territory. 

The material prosperity of Kansas, though retarded by 
the political strife, was not forgotten. The population con- 
tinued to increase, the virgin soil was cultivated, and in a 
small way public improvements were begun. The greatest 
obstacle that the settlers had to contend with was the lack 
of transportation and easy communication in different parts 
of the Territory and to the East. Railroads were greatly 
needed, especially as the river communication was entirely 
inadequate to the demands of the Territory. 

Nor did Dr. Robinson wholly confine his attention to 
matters political. He was also interested in the develop- 
ment of the West, and realized the need of railroads in Kan- 
sas. He spent considerable time in Washington, including 
one whole winter, in urging legislation favorable to the ex- 
tension of railroads into the Territory. His plan was to 
have Congress make grants of land to railroad companies 
as an encouragement for building, for at that time it was 
not thought to be a paying investment to build a railroad 
into Kansas. Possibly his experience with traffic on the 



LOCAL AFFAIRS 259 

Missouri river and difficulties with land travel in Kansas 
made him realize the immediate necessity of railroads in 
order to secure the safe-conduct of Free-State men from the 
North. But he also advocated this policy from a business 
point of view, believing that it would build up a common 
wealth and furnish a means of investment for the people. 
It is not known to what extent his influence affected sub- 
sequent legislation on this subject. That it was consider- 
able, is admitted by most men who were conversant with the 
affairs of the Territory at the time. There were many de- 
lays, however, and there were many difficulties to be sur- 
mounted before the first railroad came to Lawrence. The 
following letter, written to Mr. Hutchinson while Robinson 
was in Washington, shows to what extent he had entered 
into the project of obtaining a railroad for Kansas : 

Washington, Dee. 31, 1858. 

Wm. Hutchinson, Esq. — Dear Sir: Your favor of 20th inst. 
is received. I am glad to find that you have common-sense. Those 
men in Lawrence who are making themselves so busy in casting 
imputations upon my integrity in regard to the interests of Law- 
rence have simply my contempt. I know I have never given a living 
soul any occasion to question my devotion to her interests, and 
hence I know that these men judge me by what they themselves would 
do if they could, viz., betray the interests of the town where they 
lived for their own personal aggrandizement. However, nine-tenths 
of this hullabaloo is merely for political effect. They really do not 
doubt my integrity in this matter, but they know the people are sen- 
sitive upon it, and they think it a fine opportunity to elevate them- 
selves a peg or two by standing on my prostrate body. Let them 
sweat. Every dog must have his day, and it would be unjust to 
deprive them of theirs. 

If any person is really serious about a railroad on the south side 
of the Kansas river, below Lawrence, let him go to work and build 
it. I will not interfere in any way. It will have to be built with 
stock subscriptions alone, and he need not wait for land grants, as 



260 LIFE OF CHARLES BOBINSON 

there is no land to be granted for such a road. If so, I should like 
to know where it is. Certainly the Delawares will part with none 
of their lands for a road that does not go up the north side of the 
river. Lawrence and Douglas county may pass resolutions from 
mow till the judgment day for such a road and it will not interfere 
with our project, as we are only endeavoring to build such roads as 
can be built with lands granted for the purpose. There is no man 
here, either in Congress or out, from Kansas or elsewhere, that has 
a single thought of a grant of lands for a road on the south side of 
the river, below Lawrence, and no resolutions, communications to the 
Republican, or editorial insinuations will put such a thought into 
their heads. When the Kansas Valley Railroad Co. was chartered, 
the lands in Johnson county were not disposed of, but now they are, 
and the project is abandoned by its former friends. But the very 
fact of its having been abandoned by men of sense, perhaps, is the 
very reason why some wise people about Lawrence should take it up. 
You say you are opposed to granting lands to aid any company 
now in existence. The people of Kansas want these grants to build 
railroads with, and nothing else, and they want them made in that 
way which will secure the best roads in the shortest time. Some 
chartered company must build these roads. Now is it for the interest 
of the people of Kansas to have all these lands granted, given di- 
rectly to aid John Doe & Co. to build these roads, so that money 
can be raised at once, a first-class road built, with first-class rolling- 
stock and depot buildings ; or is it for their interest to give them only 
one-half of the land, giving the other half to fifteen or twenty mem- 
bers of the Legislature, as the price of their honor, thus crippling 
the said John Doe & Co. so that they can either not build the road at 
all, or not until the lapse of years, and then only a sickly road, 
scarcely able to run? The John Doe & Co. chartered before these 
grants, and who have all the lands granted with which to build the 
roads, is the same firm, or just as good a firm, as the one that may be 
chartered after the grants, with only half of the lands, the other half 
having stuck to the fingers of the members of the Legislature. The 
members of a Kansas Legislature are as good as the members of any 
Western Legislature, but the above estimate of their course is based 
upon the history of the Northwestern States. Do you want the 
Kansas roads left in the condition of theirs — neither built nor likely 
to be? Give the lands to the Legislature that should go to the com- 
pany that is to build the roads, and you will have your wish, if you 



LOCAL AFFAIRS 261 

do. Of course the Legislature has the same supervision over these 
lands in the one case as the other, the only difference being that 
Congress names the company in one case without pay, while in the 
other the Legislature names it after stealing half the land Congress 
and the people of the Territory designed to be used in building the 
roads. But you ask who is the John Doe & Co. who are to be aided 
to build the road up the Kansas valley? It is the firm under the 
name and style of the Missouri River & Rocky Mountains Railroad Co., 
and the stock is controlled entirely by Free-State men, and I am quite 
positive a majority of the stock is held by residents of Lawrence 
township, or persons largely interested in the city, and by men who 
have more interest in the growth of Lawrence than ten carloads of 

such men as and , who are making such a fuss about 

selling out Lawrence. No border ruffian has a dollar's worth of stock 
in the road, so far as I know. The directors of the company are 
honorable gentlemen, myself excepted if you please, and have the 
confidence of both the Republican and Democratic parties, — and this 
is necessary to success, for no grant of land can be got through Con- 
gress without both Republican and Democratic votes, neither can 
the Delaware lands, or any portion of them, be obtained (without 
which no road can be built between Lawrence and the Missouri 
river) without the approval of the administration. Strike out this 
company and you get no grants this session, beyond question. It is 
the only company so organized as to have the confidence of the mem- 
bers of Congress or the railroad public, and the only one that can 
work effectively for grants or any other purpose, and the company on 
which the whole question of grants, in my opinion, will hinge. I can- 
not give you all my reasons for saying this in one letter, even if it 
would be judicious to give them at all, but such is my belief. 

I am very glad you are disposed to interest yourself in this matter, 
and shall be as glad to use my influence in such a way that your 
pecuniary interest shall keep pace with your labors and zeal. 

Very respectfully, 

C. Robinson. 

Will keep you posted on New York land bill. It is blocked, at 
present, in committee. Write often. Of course this is not for pub- 
lication. — C. R. 

Many people have from time to time indulged in criti- 
cisms on the conduct of Governor Robinson in connection 



262 LIFE OF CHABLES ROBINSON 

with the town of Quindaro. While it might have been pru- 
dent for him to keep out of the land speculation, it has been 
the common habit of Americans, from the time of the large 
land companies in the days of Washington and Jefferson, 
to indulge in land speculation. This has been done, too, 
by statesmen of high rank and honorable character. The 
purposes of Robinson in building the town of Quindaro 
are easily discerned, and his conduct in connection with 
its failure appears to have been upright and honorable. 
He was interested in the material welfare of the country, 
and, with many others, encouraged the building of towns. 
No one denies that he was interested in making money on 
his own account. There was not one of the settlers of 
Kansas but what had this object. They were like the Pil- 
grim Fathers in this respect, who had exalted notions of 
" Freedom to worship God," and very practical notions on 
increasing their material welfare. So far as history goes, 
a New England man never hesitated to "turn a penny" 
wherever opportunity offered. Robinson was of the New 
England stock and the New England type, and he, with his 
cotemporaries who were ready to fight for freedom in Kan- 
sas, — nay, perchance to die if necessary, — were not averse 
to the accumulation of wealth when it could be legiti- 
mately done. In this they showed great thrift and practi- 
cal wisdom. 

Nearly every one who came to Kansas had more or less 
experience in buying and selling Kansas lands. Town- 
sites were established everywhere, and different groups of 
people began to advertise and push the interests of their 
own town or the one in which they owned lots. Kansas 
is dotted over with the sites of extinct towns. Some of 



LOCAL AFFAIRS 263 

them started with a vigorous growth, though soon to perish 
by the competition of others more advantageously situated ; 
but the lives of many which survived extended but little be- 
yond the paper state. The town of Quindaro was located 
on the banks of the Missouri river, above the present site of 
Kansas City, Kansas. Several people were interested in 
its prosperity, and none more than Dr. Robinson. Part 
of this interest, to be sure, was speculative, and was due to 
the fact that he owned some lots in the town. But he had 
a larger interest in it than that, for it was started with the 
purpose of making it the rival of Kansas City, as an entre- 
pot for goods. Kansas City (or Westport), in Missouri, 
was hostile to Kansas Free-State men, and it was desired 
to establish a town which was favorable to the freedom of 
Kansas. But the scheme was destined to failure, chiefly 
because of the better location of Kansas City, Quindaro 
being situated upon a bluff, and not easily accessible from 
the river. Kansas City also had the prestige of having 
long been a station in the overland traffic, which began vig- 
orously in 1849. 

Quindaro started out vigorously, however, and Eastern 
people readily invested their money in it. The promoters 
of the town had great hopes of its success, and really ex- 
pected it to become a great city. Hence they were not slow 
in painting the prospects of the town in glowing colors to 
Eastern people. But after the town entered on its collapse 
those interested in it began to lose, and there was something 
of a scramble to get out. It is in this connection that one 
Abelard Guthrie appears against Robinson, criticizing him 
severely in a diary which he kept, part of which was pub- 
lished by Mr. W. E. Connelley, in a book entitled, " Will- 



264 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

iam Walker and the Provisional Government of Ne 1 
braska." The diary shows the secret thoughts of a disap- 
pointed, irascible and vindictive man. The irrational, im- 
aginative man often thinks evil of others, to learn later 
that he was in part or totally mistaken. If he will place all 
of these evil thoughts on record as they occur to him, his 
diary will present a peculiar and erratic appearance. If 
such diary falls into the hands of a publisher, it will show 
the inconsistencies and vagaries of the writer, if nothing 
else. Such appears to be the case with the diary kept by 
Abelard Guthrie and its vindictive attack upon Dr. Rob- 
inson. This interpretation of the diary, it is fair to say, 
is not due to the partiality of a biographer, but has a sub- 
stantial support in the actual history of the town. 

The following statement of Major O. B. Gunn, of Kan- 
sas City, one who assisted in the survey of the town and was 
closely connected with its history, carries much weight in 
the Quindaro matter. It is published entire, by Major 
Gunn's consent, because the history it contains cannot be 
more clearly and briefly stated : 

" The town of Quindaro was located upon the west bank of the 
Missouri river, on a Wyandotte allotment of land, about three miles 
above the mouth of the Kansas river. Charles Robinson was the 
president of the Quindaro Town Company, Abelard Guthrie its treas- 
urer, and S. N". Simpson its superintendent or manager. 

" The town was laid out in the fall of 1856, during the speculative 
times near the close of the ' Kansas conflict/ Of an even dozen towns 
that were laid out on the Kansas side of the Missouri river, between 
the mouth of the Kansas river and the Nebraska State line, only 
three — Wyandotte (now Kansas City, Kansas), Leavenworth, and 
Atchison — now have an existence except in memory. 

" Quindaro was advertised as the only town on the Missouri river 
where Free-State men had control, and in the spring of 1857 a large 
portion of Northern emigration to Kansas landed at Quindaro. 



LOCAL AFFAISS 265 

" The town company started out with much energy, built a fine 
three-story hotel, graded the main street, caused the erection of sev- 
eral fine business houses, and very soon a very thrifty town was in 
progress. But the failure of the Ohio Life and Trust Company, in 
August, 1857, which was the cause of a widespread panic, put an end 
to speculation in Kansas towns, and many of them dwindled away, 
the inhabitants gradually moved to other and more prosperous places, 
and the buildings were moved upon neighboring farms. It was es- 
pecially unfortunate for Quindaro that it was located so near Wyan- 
dotte and Kansas City. Wyandotte, which had a more advantageous 
location and a more eligible town-site, started off in the spring of 
1857 with a great boom, and Kansas City was using every endeavor 
to attract Free-State men and Free-State trade, and these movements 
were greatly to the disadvantage of Quindaro, and eventually were 
prime factors in causing its entire collapse. 

" This was a great misfortune to those who had settled in Quin- 
daro and built homes, expecting it to become an important city, but 
scores of newly-fledged towns in Kansas suffered in the same way. 
The failure of the town was a sore disappointment to Abelard Guth- 
rie, who was largely instrumental in locating the town in a wrong 
place, and who, it was said, named the town after the Indian name 
of his wife, ' Quindaro/ and in part upon her allotment of Wyandott? 
Indian land. Be that as it may, he was the treasurer of the town 
company, and undoubtedly believed for a time that there were 
' millions in it/ 

" When the collapse finally came he became furious towards 
Robinson, and finally in 1859 began suit in the District Court, de- 
manding settlement. The case was referred to three referees. Rob- 
inson and Simpson to select one, Guthrie one, and these two to select 
the third referee. Robinson and Simpson selected Judge Nelson Cobb, 
of Lawrence; Guthrie selected Judge Lott Kaufman, of Kansas City, 
Mo.; and these two agreed upon the writer as third referee. 

" In due time the referees met in Quindaro, and very patiently 
went over all causes of complaint, examined all receipts for money 
received and expended, and after twenty-two days' sittings we re- 
turned a unanimous verdict for the defendants, Guthrie's own referee 
joining with the others. 

" It appeared that Guthrie, although treasurer of the company, 
and whose duty it was to look after expenditures, and approve every 
account before it was paid, had neglected or refused to perform his 



2 Ob LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

duties, and many vouchers were paid without his signature ; and his 
associates were justified in acting without his cooperation in paying 
just bills when they became due. 

" Guthrie was highly incensed at the verdict, and was very bitter 
and vindictive toward Robinson and the referees. Robinson paid his 
half of the referees' fees at $5 per day, but Guthrie never paid a cent. 
He did not speak to me or notice me on the streets for more than a 
year after the arbitration, and not until he became a candidate for 
U. S. Senator from Kansas, when, the writer having been elected 
State Senator, Guthrie was compelled in aid of his own election to 
seek the aid of the writer. Judge Cobb and Judge Kaufman, referees; 
Charles Robinson and Abelard Guthrie, contestants; Charles Chad- 
wick, of Lawrence, attorney for Robinson; and A. B. Bartlett, of 
Wyandotte, attorney for Guthrie, are all dead. Of all those who were 
actors in the matter of arbitration, only S. N. Simpson and the 
writer are living. 

" Although the arbitration occurred forty-one years ago, the main 
points are very distinct in my memory. 

" The verdict can doubtless be found in the records of Wyandotte. 

" O. B. Gunn, 

" One of the Referees. 

"Kansas City, Mo., June 24, 1900." 



THE FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE STATE 267 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE STATE. 

Kansas was admitted into the Union with liberal privi- 
leges, on January 29th, 1861. Governor Robinson was 
sworn into office on February 9th, and he called a session of 
the Legislature, to meet on March 26th, 1861. As nearly 
as could be determined, the Legislature was composed of 
eighty-nine Republicans and fourteen Democrats, although 
it was difficult to draw party lines at this time. After the 
assembling of the Legislature, Governor Robinson sent to 
it his first message, on March 30th. It was an able mes- 
sage, outlining the duties of the Legislature in the organi- 
zation of the State Government, and vigorous in its loyalty 
to the Federal Government. He said : 

" While it is the duty of each loyal State to see that equal and 
exact justice is done to the citizens of every other State, it is equally 
its duty to sustain the Chief Executive of the nation in defending the 
Government from foes, whether from within or without, and Kansas, 
though the last and the least of the States in the Union, will ever 
be ready to answer the call of her country." 

These were prophetic words, for Kansas furnished more 
volunteer soldiers for the Union army, in proportion to the 
population, than any other State. Her quota was more 
than filled, sometimes doubled, at every call. And Gov- 
ernor Robinson, though he differed with the policy of the 
Federal Government in some things, gave it his support so 
long as he remained in office. 

One of the first official acts of Governor Robinson was 



268 LIFE OF CHAKLES ROBINSON 

the appointment of Thomas Ewing, jr., M. F. Conway, 
Henry J. Adams, and J. C. Stone, as representatives of 
Kansas to the peace conference assembled at Washington. 
While Ewing and Stone voted for "peace and compromise," 
there was not a strong peace sentiment in Kansas. As evi- 
dence of this may be cited the fact that the Republican 
Congressional convention that convened on May 22d, 
passed strong resolutions, introduced by D. K. Anthony, 
of Leavenworth, upholding the administration in the in- 
evitable conflict just begun, and expressing the sentiments 
of the convention regarding the peace party, as follows : 

"Resolved, That we spurn as specious sophistries all suggestions 
of the peaceful dismemberment of the Union, and pledge our fortunes 
and our honor to its maintenance, intact and inviolate." 

There were many different questions to meet in the or- 
ganization of the new State, all of which were made more 
difficult by the impending civil war. The laws were to 
be compiled, the conditions imposed by the Federal Govern- 
ment on account of admission must be met, courts must be 
established, the State apportioned for senators and repre- 
sentatives, laws enacted for the management of the school 
fund and the university fund, and many other duties per- 
taining to the formation of the State Government per- 
formed. Moreover, there was the mustering of troops to 
see to, the commissioning of officers, and the management 
of the Indians, many of whom were troublesome. Many 
difficulties resulted from the coming of all these things, and 
more upon a new State formed by people from all parts of 
the Union, of different political views, who had not been in 
the same land together more than seven years at the utmost, 
and many not half that time. Moreover, the State was poor 



THE FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE STATE 269 

and the machinery for raising revenue imperfect. Add to 
this, that politicians looking for preferment were plentiful, 
some of tliem excessively ambitious and even unscrupu- 
lous, and the affairs of the new State do not present the 
happiest possible prospect, nor do they promise serenity 
and prosperity to the State administration. But no one 
could stand a stormy time better than Governor Robinson. 

It was significant that at the outset, S. C. Pomeroy and 
James H. Lane were elected United States Senators by the 
Legislature. This was in direct line of the political trend 
of the times, for it appeared from the first that Lane, who 
was in harmony with the political machine, was ambitious 
to be Senator, and that he was the most prominent man 
for the place. 

There was, at the time, a belief among some that the 
term of the State officers expired on January 1st, 1862, 
about two years from the date of his election ; but an act 
of the Legislature fixed the expiration of the term on Jan- 
uary 9th, 1863, or practically two years from the time 
Governor Robinson was sworn in. Certain persons who 
believed, or affected to believe, that this was illegal, and 
desired a change of administration, presented a petition 
to the State Republican Committee reciting that, " The 
undersigned citizens, suffering in common with others from 
the impotency or malice of the present State Executive, 
and earnestly desiring a State Government that will in a 
patriotic and energetic manner defend our people from in- 
vasion," etc., etc., and asking them "to nominate a full 
State ticket of efficient Union men, . . . who will con- 
duct the State Government with reference to the good of 



270 LIFE OF CHABLES EOBIHSON 

the whole community and not upon mere personal 
grounds." 

When judged from a historical standpoint and com- 
pared with the contemporary administration of other 
States, it does not appear that there was any lack of vigor 
in the administration of the Kansas " War Governor," 
or any evidence of "impotency or malice" on his part It 
appears from the history of his war record that he moved 
fast enough for a young State without money or prestige, 
almost without State machinery. But he did not move 
rapidly enough for ambitious place-hunters who wished 
opportunities to win laurels in politics or war. 

Strange to say, the Republican State Committee heeded 
the petition, and nominated a new ticket with George A. 
Crawford heading the list as Governor. They professed to 
make the nominations on the following platform : 

"Resolved, That the vigorous prosecution of the present war, the 
earnest and hearty support of the administration in its efforts to 
crush out the Rebellion, the maintenance of the Constitution, the 
enforcement of laws, and the preservation of the Union, are the issues 
upon which these nominations are made." 

While many of the actors in this little drama were 
doubtless sincere, there is strong evidence of demagogy 
and injustice, of much lack of information respecting what 
ought to be done, and of a wish to do injustice to Governor 
Robinson. An election of State officers was held at the 
same time as the Congressional election, but the State 
Board refused to canvass the votes for this State ticket. 
George A. Crawford tried, through his representatives, to 
force the Board to canvass the votes, but failed, the courts 
deciding that the vote was illegal. 



THE FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE STATE 271 

But this was a small difficulty in comparison with the 
trouble Governor Eobinson met with in the mustering and 
officering of troops to put down the Civil War. He an- 
swered President Lincoln's first call promptly, and fol- 
lowed up vigorously the war policy. Many did not like 
his war methods, but they do not appear to have been 
different from those pursued by other States, more favored 
by wealth and position than Kansas. 

Undoubtedly it was the first duty of the Governor of a 
new State to look after the welfare of the commonwealth 
and its people. A strong, comprehensive and able message 
from the Governor, followed by thoroughgoing legislation, 
marked the first gubernatorial period under the Wyandotte 
Constitution. The chief results are as follows : 

The first Legislature compiled the laws providing for 
and regulating the State Government, among which were 
resolutions and laws accepting of the terms imposed by 
Congress for the admission of the State into the UnioD, 
and dividing of the State into districts for senators and 
representatives ; measures creating codes of civil and crim- 
inal procedure, and a State board of equalization; others 
establishing a homestead-exemption law, fixing a salary 
schedule for all officers, making provision for the manage- 
ment of the State and university school funds, and other 
important acts. The Agricultural Society was established, 
and provisions for founding a university were made. In 
a word, during the administration of Governor Eobinson 
the whole administrative, legislative and judicial machin- 
ery of the State Government was put in operation. 

After the call for troops on April 15th, 1861, the first 
company of men was organized by Capt. Samuel Walker, 



272 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

of Kanwaka, Douglas county, who tendered his services 
and a company of one hundred men on April 17th, two 
days after the call. A militia regiment had been organized 
in Linn county by Charles R. Jennison and J. E. Broad- 
head, in the previous month. From this time on the com- 
panies and regiments were organized rapidly, and James 
Blood and James C. Stone were made Major-Generals of 
the State militia. 

The most trying situation of the whole military regime 
in Kansas arose from the fact that Senator Lane was ap- 
pointed Brigadier-General by President Lincoln. Lane 
had desired to be Senator of the United States to control 
the political affairs of the State in relation to the Union, 
and to be Brigadier-General that he might in part control 
the military affairs of the State. As he could not hold both 
offices under the Constitution, Governor Robinson, pre- 
suming that Lane would resign the Senatorship in accord- 
ance with his assertions, presented, through Senator Foote, 
of Vermont, the name of Frederick P. Stanton, as Senator 
for Kansas instead of Lane. Whereupon Lane said, "This 
looks like an attempt to bury a man before he is dead." 
The credentials of Lane were referred to the judiciary 
committee, and he was seated as United States Senator. 
Subsequently, Lane was obliged to relinquish his office of 
Brigadier-General in order to hold the position of United 
States Senator, but finally was commissioned to recruit 
troops in Kansas. 

Governor Robinson proceeded to recruit the First and 
Second regiments for service in the army of the United 
States under Major-General Stone, whom he had com- 
missioned to command the northern division of the Kansas 



THE FIEST GOVERNOR OF THE STATE 273 

militia, and Major-General Blood of the southern division. 
When sworn in they were ordered to Missouri, and on 
August 10th, 1861, they participated in the bloody battle 
of Wilson's Creek, where their bravery made fame for the 
commanding officers, Col. G. W. Deitzler and Col. B. B. 
Mitchell of those regiments, and honor for their State. 
In that fatal struggle General Lyon, against fearful odds, 
when he lay bleeding from two wounds, swung his hat 
in the air and called on the troops nearest him for a bay- 
onet charge on the enemy. The Kansas troops rallied 
around him, and in a moment Colonel Mitchell fell se- 
verely wounded. The Kansans cried out, " We are ready. 
Who will lead us?" "I will lead you," cried Lyon; 
" come on, brave men." At that instant the third bullet 
struck him in the breast, and he fell from his horse mor- 
tally wounded. Colonel Mitchell of the Second regiment 
and Colonel Deitzler of the First regiment were promoted 
to brigadier-generals by the President of the United States. 
Mitchell was confirmed by the Senate, but through the op- 
position of Lane the confirmation of Deitzler' s appointment 
was prevented for some time. 

By the direction of General Fremont, then commanding 
the Department of Missouri, in which Kansas was in- 
cluded, the Governor recruited the Eighth regiment for 
home service, to be stationed on the border. Captain Wes- 
sells, of the United States Army, who was then stationed 
at Fort Riley, was made colonel of the regiment. General 
McClellan directed Major Baird of the United States Army 
to visit Kansas and inspect the troops in service there in 
the State. Baird was so well pleased with the appearance 

— 18 



274 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

of this regiment, and so favorably impressed with Colonel 
Wessells, that, through his recommendation, General Mc- 
Clellan transferred Wessells to the Army of the Potomac, 
where he was advanced to the position of General. The 
vacancy thus made was filled by the advancement of Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Martin, afterward Governor John A. Mar- 
tin of Kansas. Thus the colonels of the First, Second and 
Eighth regiments of Kansas troops appointed and com- 
missioned by the Governor had, within a few months after 
their enlistment, received well-merited promotions. 

Prior to the election of Lane as Senator, he had ar- 
ranged with Conway, the Representative to Congress, that 
no appointments should be made by the administration in 
Kansas until after the Senators were elected. After the 
election Senator Lane hastened to Washington, where he 
tried to carry out his plans in regard to the appointment of 
officers of the troops called into service. He returned 
from Washington to Kansas in August, 1861, having au- 
thority, as he claimed, to recruit and command a brigade. 
It is quite strange that the authorities, the President and 
the Secretary of War, should authorize a Senator to re- 
cruit two regiments while holding the office of Senator, but 
that this was done is a matter of history. The Constitu- 
tion expressly says that no person holding any office under 
the United States shall be a member of either house during 
his continuance in office. 1 As to such part of the militia 
of the several States as may be employed in the service of 
the United States, it " reserves to the States respectively 
the appointment of the officers/' How could a Senator 
during his continuance in office command a brigade of 

1 Constitution, Art. 1, Sec. 6, Clause 2. 



THE FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE STATE 275 

troops in the United States service and act as recruiting 
officer while holding office under the United States ? How 
could such a Senator recruit troops from the militia of the 
State to be employed in the service of the United States, 
and appoint the officers of such troops, doing the same by 
the authority of the President, without violating the con- 
stitutional provisions that reserve to the State the power 
of appointing such officers? As a matter of fact, it is 
known that he did so command a brigade, recruited from 
the militia ; that he named the officers while he continued 
in office as Senator ; and that he must have done so either 
with the knowledge and authority or through the inad- 
vertence of the President. 

This is one of the mysteries connected with Kansas 
affairs that are yet to be explained. How the great and 
good President of the United States, so sensitive to the 
question of justice to all people, should have failed to 
allow the Governor of the State of Kansas to exercise his 
rights, and, in so failing, should have allowed a Senator 
of the United States to violate the law and assume uncon- 
stitutional and illegal privileges, has never been explained. 
Yet, when we realize the pressure brought to bear upon 
the President in those trying hours, and the difficulty he 
had in managing the members of his cabinet like Seward 
and Stanton ; and finally, when we think of the magnetic 
power of Senator Lane, in whom the President seems to 
have had the utmost confidence, we can easily see how such 
a state of affairs could have been brought about. 

Governor Robinson placed no obstacles in the way of 
Lane's recruiting these two regiments. After Lane had 
selected the officers, his son-in-law, Col. Adams, went to 



276 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

the Governor and asked him to commission the officers se- 
lected, and the Governor did so. 

Lane's speeches to secure recruits were of a nature to 
show the kind of a campaign he proposed to make as 
commander of the brigade. On one occasion he said, to 
encourage the enlistment of an infantry regiment : " When 
the cavalry came out of Missouri each man brought out 
two more horses than he took in with him, but when the 
infantry came out each man brought out three more horses 
than he brought in, — the one which he rode and two which 
he led." On another occasion he told of a number of mules 
taken in one day, adding, " It was not much of a day for 
mules, either." As a recruiting officer no doubt Lane was 
a success. The enthusiasm which he put into an audience 
or a band of men was remarkable. No one has ever yet 
been able to account for Lane's popularity as an orator. 
It is a well-known fact that he could stir an audience of 
people almost to a frenzy. An old resident of Kansas said : 
" He talked like none of the others ; none of the rest had 
that husky, rasping, blood-curdling whisper or that menac- 
ing forefinger, or could shriek ' Great God ! ' on the same 
day with him." 1 Judge Kingman called him " The great 
natural orator." " By great natural orator," said he, " I 
mean a man who could stand up before Hve hundred men, 
two hundred and fifty of whom were ready to hang him to 
the next tree, and at the end of a half-hour have them all 
cheering for him." A letter of John J. Ingalls to the 
Topeka Commonwealth has this description of Lane : 

" It would be hard to give a rational and satisfactory analysis of 
the causes of General Lane's popularity as an orator. Destitute of 

1 Noble Prentis, m Kansas City Star, January 27tlQ, 1884. 



THE FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE STATE 277 

all graces of an orator, he possesses but few even of its essentials; 
he writhes himself into more contortions than Gabriel Ravel in a 
pantomime ; his voice is a series of transitions from the broken scream 
of a maniac to the hoarse rasping gutturals of a Dutch butcher in 
the last gasp of inebriation; the construction of his sentences is loose 
and disjointed; his diction is a pudding of slang, profanity and sole- 
cism ; and yet the electric shock of his extraordinary eloquence thrills 
like the blast of a trumpet; the magnetism of his manner, the fire 
of his glance, the studied earnestness of his utterance, find sudden 
response in the will of the audience, and he sways them like a field of 
reeds shaken in the wind. Devoid of those qualities of character 
which excite esteem and cement the enduring structure of popular 
regard, he overcomes the obstacles in the path of achievement by 
persistent effort and indomitable will." 1 

Lane finally assumed command, and started his cam- 
paign in August, 1861, and completed it sometime in the 
autumn following. It was a continuation of the old 
Kansas struggle along the border, but this time in the 
name of the United States Government. Captain Prince, 
of Fort Leavenworth, in a letter to General Lane says: 
" I hope you will adopt early and active measures to crush 
out this marauding which is being enacted in Jennison's 
name, and also by a band of men representing themselves 
as belonging to your command." On December 10, 1861, 
General Halleck wrote to General McClellan : " The con- 
duct of our troops, and especially those under Lane and 
Jennison, turned against us many thousands who were 
formerly Union men." December 16, 1861, Halleck wrote 
again to McClellan : " The conduct of the forces under 
Lane and Jennison has done more for the enemy in this 
State than could have been accomplished by 20,000 of his 
own army. I receive, almost daily, complaints of outrages 
committed by these men in the name of the United States, 

iWilder's Annals, p. 318. 



278 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

and the evidence is so conclusive as to leave no doubt of 
their correctness. It is rumored that Lane has been made 
a brigadier-general. I cannot conceive of a more injudi- 
cious appointment. It will take 20,000 men to counteract 
the appointment in this State, and moreover, it is an offer 
of a premium for rascality and robbery in this State." 

It was certainly unfortunate that after the four years of 
struggle between Kansas and Missouri, in which Lane's 
name appears so prominent on the roll of Kansas heroes, 
he should have been appointed to lead Kansas forces into 
Missouri. In Missouri there were many loyal citizens, 
Union men, who nevertheless had learned to hate Kansas. 
To them every man from Kansas was an abolitionist, and 
according to their view every abolitionist ought to be 
hanged. Hence the potency of General Halleck's remarks. 

On February 11, 1862, General McClellan submitted to 
Secretary Stanton extracts from the report of Major- 
General Baird, Assistant Inspector-General of the United 
States Army, on the inspection of the Kansas troops. 
Among other things, General Baird says: 

" If the practice of seizing and confiscating private property of 
rebels which is so extensively carried on by troops in Lane's brigade 
should be continued, how is it to be arranged so as to prevent the 
troops being demoralized and the Government defrauded? The prac- 
tice has become so fixed and general that I confess that orders arrest- 
ing it would not be obeyed, and that the only way of putting a stop 
to it would be to remove the Kansas troops to some other section. 
The fact that citizens' property has been seized and confiscated by 
troops is substantiated by both private and official evidence. To what 
extent may the right of confiscation be legally carried that the dig- 
nity and justice of government be not at the menace of individuals 
governed by cupidity and revenge? " 

General Hunter, when he took command of the Depart- 



THE FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE STATE 279 

ment of Kansas, found in the report of his adjutant- 
general that Lane's brigade was in a demoralized condi- 
tion. Lane's regimental and company officers knew noth- 
ing of their duties, and had never made or returned their 
reports. " Regiments in a worse condition than those could 
not possibly be found. They are camped in little better 
than pigpens; officers and men sleep and mess together; 
furloughs in great numbers are granted and taken ; drill 
abandoned almost wholly ; the men are ragged, half armed, 
diseased, and mutinous, — taking votes as to whether dis- 
tasteful orders should be obeyed. . . . Public property 
had been taken without requisition. . . . Horses in 
great quantities at extravagant prices were bought under 
irregular orders and paid for by the United States, . . . 
then turned over to the men and officers, who drew extra 
pay for them as private property." 

Lane with his brigade reached Westport, Missouri, Sep- 
tember, 1861, when he reported that " Yesterday I cleared 
out Butler and Parkville with my cavalry." 1 On Septem- 
ber 22d he sacked and burned Osceola, Missouri. He re- 
turned on the 27th, and in two days reached Kansas City. 
The brigade turned the Missouri border through which the 
march lay into a wilderness, and reached its destination 
heavily laden with plunder. " Everything disloyal," said 
Lane, " . . . must be cleaned out." ^ever were orders 
more literally or cheerfully obeyed. Even the chaplain 
succumbed to the rampant spirit of thievery, and plun- 
dered Confederate altars in the interest of his unfinished 
church at home. "Among the spoils which fell to Lane 

^Sprinp : Kansas, p. 276. 



280 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

personally was a fine carriage, which he brought to Law- 
rence for the rise of his household." x 

September 1st, Governor Robinson wrote to General Fre- 
mont, commanding the Western Department, that there 
was no danger from invasion from Missouri, provided that 
the Government stores at Fort Scott were sent to Fort 
Leavenworth and that Lane's brigade be removed from 
the border. He even relates in this letter how a band 
of secessionists coming over from Missouri stole property 
of citizens, and how the officers in command of the Con- 
federates compelled the return of the property and offered 
to give up the leaders of the gang for puuishment. Robin- 
son expressed fear that Lane's brigade would get up a war 
by committing depredations in Missouri and returning to 
Kansas, 2 On October 9th, Lane wrote to Lincoln as fol- 
lows : " Governor Charles Robinson has constantly, in sea- 
son and out of season, vilified myself and abused the men 
under my command as marauders and thieves." On the 
letter which Halleck had written to President Lincoln 
remonstrating against the appointment of Lane as Briga- 
dier-General because it would be " offering a premium for 
rascality and robbery," were indorsed these words: "An 
excellent letter, though I am sorry that General Halleck 
is so unfavorably impressed with General Lane." 

Mr. Mark W. Delahay appeared also to be trying to 
gain favor by misrepresenting Governor Robinson. It will 
be remembered that at the Topeka Constitutional Conven- 
tion he strongly advocated the "black law" clause, with 
which he said the Topeka Constitution would go through 



1 Spring : Kansas, p. 27«>.. 
2 Ibid., p. 277. 



THE FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE STATE 281 

Congress " like a shot." It is nothing against him that he 
had political ambitions for political power, but this attempt 
to " stand in " with the President of the United States by 
defaming others shows that his ambition for himself was 
of greater interest to him than the success of the Union. 
To show the spirit of the times in political circles, Dela- 
hay's letter to President Lincoln is given in full: 

Leavenworth City, Kansas, Nov. 30. 1861. 

Dear Lincoln : Gov. Robinson a few weeks ago published a letter 
in which he charges you with being the instigator of theft and rob- 
bery, which he assumes to have been committed by our Kansas sol- 
diers. Your friends properly resented the insult by nominating and 
electing Geo. A. Crawford (a Union candidate) to succeed Robinson 
as Governor on the 2d Tuesday of January next. By the plain lan- 
guage of our State Constitution his time expires on that day, but 
through his influence the Legislature failed to provide for the elec- 
tion of his successor this fall. The people, however, availed them- 
selves of their constitutional right to elect; Robinson is now trying 
to induce the State Board of Canvassers not to count Mr. Crawford's 
vote. He will also attempt to influence the Legislature, in violation 
of the expressed will of the people, to recognize him instead of Mr. 
Crawford as Governor. 

The appointing patronage which has been given him by the War 
Department in the organization of regiments has been of great use 
to him against your friends here. He is now raising two regiments 
for New Mexico by order of General Fremont, when the proper pro- 
tection of Kansas would more than occupy his whole time. The ap- 
pointments and outfits for these regiments involve an immense amount 
of patronage, which will all be used to perpetuate Robinson in office 
against the overwhelming vote of the people. 

This abuse of your confidence by your enemy to overthrow your 
friends here will exhaust all your patience. I hope, and will meet 
with proper rebuke. 

I hope that you will countermand the order for the New-Mexican 
regiments, on the ground that all our men are needed nearer home, 
and that they already have soldiers there. And from this time on I 
trust the Honorable Secretary of War will withhold from Robinson 



282 LIFE OF CHAEXES BOBINSON 

(who is a traitor to your administration) all manner of control over 
the organization or commissioning of officers in advance. Regiments 
can be organized better under Major-General Hunter, and Robinson 
will have to commission those elected by the subordinates or desig- 
nated by General Hunter, who will commit no act of extravagance, 
and who enjoys our confidence and respect. Our new Governor-elect 
is an honorable man, and will give the war and your administration 
a hearty support. 

Pardon me for troubling you, yet these reflections are of great 
moment to us here. 

Truly your friend, 

Delahay. 

When General Hunter took command 1 of the Department 
of Kansas in January be received instructions from Wash- 
ington that a southern expedition of eight or ten thousand 
Kansas troops and four thousand Indians had been de- 
cided on, and that it was understood at Washington that 
General Halleck favored the expedition, but that Lane was 
to have chief command. Hunter opposed Lane's southern 
expeditions, which, it appears, had been sanctioned by the 
President. When General Hunter insisted that he should 
command this expedition in person, the whole matter was 
dropped, and Lane, who had contemplated resigning his 
seat in the Senate, finally concluded not to do so. The col- 
lapse of what General Halleck called " the great jayhawk- 
ing expedition," by order of General Hunter, changed 
the aspect of affairs entirely. On July 22d, 1862, Lane 
was made commissioner for recruiting in the Department 
of Kansas, but no attempt was made after this to make 
him a commander in the army. When Lane was recruiting 
regiments he issued commissions right and left, but they 
were found to be worthless without being signed by the 
Governor, according to the views of the paymaster. While 



THE FIKST GOVEKNOK OF THE STATE 283 

Robinson commissioned the officers of the first regiments 
formed, sometimes at Lane's request, he finally declined to 
sanction Lane's erratic appointments. The Secretary of 
War telegraphed to Governor Robinson, " If you do not 
issue commissions, the War Department will." To which 
the Governor promptly replied, " You have the power to 
override the constitution and the laws, but you have not 
the power to force the Governor of Kansas to dishonor his 
own State." This was the position of Governor Robinson, 
and he held it firmly. 

It may be added here, that after Governor Carney, Rob- 
inson's successor, was elected, he found the same difficulty 
that confronted Governor Robinson. Carney went to see 
the President, and the President gave him a letter to Stan- 
ton, saying, " Will we at last be compelled to treat the 
Governor of Kansas as we do other Governors about raising 
and commissioning troops ? " This seemed to be a frank 
acknowledgment of the fact that an attempt had been made 
to override Governor Robinson in the raising of troops. It 
seemed to indicate that the Secretary of War had treated 
the Governor of Kansas in one way and the governors of 
other loyal States in another. Stanton reluctantly acceded 
to the President's request, and Lane's influence ceased 
with the administration so far as the military affairs of 
the State of Kansas were concerned. 

The Kansas regiments continued to be organized, and 
their record's show brilliant and brave work in the cause of 
the Union. The Republican party of Kansas stood staunch 
and firm for the Union, and through resolution and action 
gave the Federal administration their hearty support. The 
Republican Congressional Convention assembled at To- 



284 LIFE OF CHAELES SOBINSON 

peka, May 22d, 1861, and the following resolutions were 
offered by D. R. Anthony, expressing their support of the 
State ■administration : 

"Resolved, by the Republican party of the State of Kansas in con- 
vention assembled, That the existing condition of national affairs de- 
mands the emphatic and unmistakable expression of the people of the 
State, and that Kansas allies herself with the uprising Union hosts 
of the North to uphold the policy of the administration. 

"Resolved, That the grave responsibilities of this hour could not 
have been safely postponed, and that they have not arrived too soon, 
and that in the present war between government and anarchy the 
mildest compromise is treason against humanity." 

There occurred during this administration an unfortu- 
nate event regarding the sale of State bonds. It appears 
that in the act providing for the issue of bonds, provision 
was made for the sale of the bonds at a minimum price 
of 70 per cent., wliile in fact they were put in the hands 
of an agent with the understanding that he could have 
a commission of all over and above 60 per cent, on the 
amount of State bonds. J. W. Robinson, Secretary of 
State, and George S. Hillyer, Auditor, manipulated this 
sale, and they held that they did so according to the law, 
and that though the bonds actually sold for 85 per cent., 
only 60 per cent, was turned into the public treasury. A 
committee of the Legislature which convened January 
14th, 1862, consisting of Anderson, Carney, Sidney 
Clarke, B. W. Hartley, and H. L. Jones, was appointed to 
consider the whole matter, and submitted a report on this 
sale on February 13th, accompanied with the following 
resolution, and recommending its adoption: 

"Resolved, That Charles Robinson, Governor, J. W. Robinson, 
Secretary of State, and George S. Hillyer, Auditor of the State of 



TEE FIKST GOVEENOR OF THE STATE 285 

Kansas, be and they are hereby impeached of high misdemeanors in 
office." 

The following day this resolution was adopted in the 
House by a vote of sixty-five yeas and no nays. 1 P. B. 
Phimb was chairman of the committee appointed to draw 
up articles of impeachment. This committee reported 
eight articles of impeachment against J. W. Robinson, and 
on February 26th, 1862, the same committee reported 
eight articles of impeachment against George S. Hillyer 
and five articles against Charles Eobinson. The articles 
against J. W. Robinson were adopted without a division, 
those against Hillyer without division, and those against 
Governor Eobinson by a vote of fifty-three to seven. In 
the impeachment of J. W. Eobinson, seventeen voted guilty 
on the first article of impeachment, and four not guilty; 
on the second article, ten voted guilty and eleven not 
guilty ; on the third article, eight voted guilty and thirteen 
not guilty; on the fourth, five voted guilty and sixteen 
not guilty; on the fifth, seven voted guilty and fourteen 
not guilty ; on the sixth, twenty-one voted not guilty ; on 
the seventh, twenty-one voted not guilty; and on the 
eighth, twenty-one voted not guilty. Therefore, J. W. Eob- 
inson was impeached on the first article and acquitted on 
the other seven. The Senate then removed Secretary Eob- 
inson from office, by a vote of eighteen to three, George S. 
Hillyer was then tried and convicted on the first article 
and acquitted on the other seven. The Senate then voted 
by eighteen to two to remove Auditor Hillyer from office. 
The Auditor was convicted on the following article of im- 
peachment : 

"Abticle I. That the said George S. Hillyer, as Auditor of State of 

1 "Wilcer'8 Armals, p. 343. 



286 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

the State of Kansas, was, together with the Secretary of State and the 
Governor of said State, by the laws of said State authorized and em- 
powered to negotiate and sell the bonds of the State, the issuance of 
which was provided for in the act authorizing the negotiation of one 
hundred and fifty thousand dollars of the bonds of the State of Kansas 
to defray the current expenses of the State, approved May 1st, 1861. 

" That the bonds of the State of Kansas to defray the current ex- 
penses of the State as aforesaid, were prepared, executed, and issued 
according to law. 

" That the said George S. Hillyer, being so empowered to sell and 
negotiate the said bonds, did authorize and empower one Robert S. 
Stevens to negotiate and sell said bonds to the amount of eighty-seven 
thousand two hundred dollars, at any price over 60 per centum upon 
the amount of said bonds, he, said Stevens, paying to the State 
no more than 60 per centum of said amount; that under said agree- 
ment, and with the full knowledge and consent of said Hillyer, said 
Stevens proceeded to sell and deliver a large amount of said bonds, 
to wit, the amount of fifty-six thousand dollars of said bonds, at the 
rate of 85 per centum on said amount of fifty-six thousand dollars, — 
all of which was well known to said Hillyer. Said Stevens paid over 
and accounted to said State for only 60 per centum upon said bonds so 
sold, which said agreement, so made and entered into by said Hillyer, 
was in direct violation of the laws of said State, in this, that under 
said laws said bonds could not be sold for less than 70 per centum on 
the amount of said bonds ; and was in violation of the official duty of 
said Hillyer, in this, that the State was by said agreement defrauded 
out of its just rights, in that said State was entitled to receive 
the full amount for which said bonds were sold, while in truth and in 
fact, with the full knowledge and consent of the said Hillyer said 
bonds were sold for 85 per centum upon the dollar, and the said State 
did not receive therefrom more than 60 per centum upon the bonds so 
sold; whereby said Hillyer betrayed the trust reposed in him by the 
State of Kansas, subjected said State to great pecuniary loss, and is 
thereby guilty of high misdemeanor in his said office of Auditor of 
State aforesaid. '" 1 

The trial of Governor Robinson followed, and on the first 
article two Senators voted guilty and nineteen not guilty ; 
on the others there were received a unanimous vote of not 

1 Wilcler's Anoals, p. 349. 



THE FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE STATE 287 

guilty, with the exception of article five, on which one 
vote pronounced guilty. Governor Robinson was declared 
acquitted of all the articles exhibited by the House of Rep- 
resentatives against him. Yet, while Governor Robinson 
was acquitted of all these charges, the fact that they had 
been made left a stain upon his administration in the 
minds of some people. Those who take the trouble to in- 
quire carefully into the history of the whole matter will 
find that no blame could be attached to him. And indeed 
there are those who, in spite of the conviction of Hillyer 
and J. W. Robinson, hold that these men acted honestly 
and fairly in attempting to market the bonds, believing 
that they could not be sold at a price above 60 per centum 
on the par value. jSTevertheless, the credit of the State of 
Kansas was better than they supposed, and the bonds might 
have sold for more than 60 per centum. Some criticism 
attaches to those officers, the Secretary of State, and the 
Auditor, for not managing the business better, because 
those were officers of the administration of which Robinson 
was the head, and there may have been a lack of alertness 
on his part in regard to the bonds, although he defends him- 
self because he was out of the Territory at the time the 
transaction took place. He says of the trial of the Gov- 
ernor, by the Senate : 

" It was shown by the testimony of all the witnesses of the nego- 
tiations on the part of the State, that not only the Governor was 
not advised of the transaction, but that he was one thousand miles 
distant from it; that he had refused to sell the bonds, when asked, for 
a less price than that named in the law. The testimony on the other 
hand has shown that the Senator-General (Lane), who was con- 
sulting about the sale, signed a letter to the President asking that it 
might be made, and his private secretary was paid five hundred 
dollars and a promise of five hundred dollars additional for assisting 



288 LIFE OF CHARLES EOBINSON 

in this sale. These facts are published m the proceedings of the 
trial, and speak for themselves." 1 

One is impressed with the many difficulties of the posi- 
tion in which Governor Robinson was placed during the 
short period of his active administration as the first Gov- 
ernor of the State of Kansas. Surely, he had enough op- 
position to try his soul, and this opposition was the oppo- 
sition of demagogues who did not fight in the open. 
Possibly he was not careful enough to protect himself from 
their attacks. The only blame that can fairly be said to 
attach itself to Governor Robinson, in connection with the 
illegal sale of bonds, is the fact that it occurred in his ad- 
ministration, and while not himself guilty of wrong-doing, 
he should have been sufficiently watchful and exerted suffi- 
cient influence not to have permitted anything of the kind 
to occur. Personally, the Governor is not responsible for 
the official conduct of the Treasurer and the Auditor of 
his administration, but the three were empowered by 
the Legislature to sell the bonds, and while he personally 
refused to sell them at less than 70 per cent., the price fixed 
by law, still it seems clear that his associates in office did 
violate the law. It appears to the writer that Governor 
Robinson's ability and shrewdness, had they been applied 
to the point in question, would have so arranged matters 
that the Auditor and Treasurer would not have found 
themselves able to sell the bonds without Governor Robin- 
son's knowledge ; and this criticism, if it be one at all, can 
at worst be said to involve nothing more than censure for 
inadvertence and oversight caused by the numerous de- 
mands upon his time and attention. Such a criticism is a 

1 Address -written for delivery at Leavenworth Beunion, Oct. 11, 12, 13, 1883. 
Proceedings in Impeachment Cases. 



THE FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE STATE 289 

good deal like saving that if he had thought it was going 
to happen, or that there was a possibility of its happening, 
he could have prevented it. Yet, his political and personal 
enemies fastened upon this affair as offering good ground 
upon which to attack his administration, and politically 
he was obliged to bear the results of the attack. James H. 
Lane appears on the scene, just at the opportune time, for 
it was largely by his suggestions that the impeachment oc- 
curred. 

After a careful reading of all the details of history, one 
is forced to the conclusion that it is difficult to see how the 
management of the war could have been improved, unless 
some way had been devised for making war on that class 
of traducers who trotted between Kansas and Washington, 
misrepresenting affairs. Certainly little blame could be 
attached to the Governor of Kansas for the irregularities 
of the border warfare, so long as the Federal Government 
in every way possible encouraged those who were believers 
in disorganized predatory warfare. There was a serious 
defect in the management of the Civil War, attributable 
largely to the desire of the officials at Washington to dictate 
the policy of the war in its details. General Grant saw 
this fatal mistake, and before he accepted command of the 
entire forces obtained concessions in this direction which 
enabled him to push the war to a successful close. The 
same defect was observed in the late Spanish- American 
War, although not to such a grievous extent. The military 
hoard of control might have been of use as a suggestive com- 
mittee on the conduct of the war, but it was powerless to 
win battles. The President is indeed Commander-in-Chief 
of the forces, but if he is wise, neither he nor his secretary 

— ^9 



290 LIFE OF CHARLES EOBINSON 

will overstep the bounds of reason in attempting to exercise 
unduly his prerogatives in an attempt to absorb all the 
power and become dictator. 

But why did the Federal authorities treat Kansas dif- 
ferently from other States? Did it think the Governor 
•incompetent or disloyal ? Or, did it think him weak, and 
easily overridden by arbitrary authority ? In either case it 
was sadly mistaken, and if mistaken, probably misin- 
formed by some of the warrior politicians of Kansas. 

Notwithstanding the difficulties arising out of the Civil 
War, therefore, and the peculiar conditions surrounding 
the State administration at this time, Governor Robinson's 
official career is marked by strong and upright service to 
the State ; and though beset by more difficulties than any 
other governor in the history of the State has had to face, 
and surrounded by as greedy a horde of politicians as ever 
annoyed a governor, yet the first chief executive of Kansas 
gave the State an administration that was clean and pro- 
gressive, and one in which the work done makes as fair a 
showing as that of the best administrations in the history 
of the State. Truly had the " War Governor " of Kansas 
fulfilled the promise of his first message as the first Gov- 
ernor of the State: 

" It is equally its duty to sustain the Chief Executive of the 
Nation in defending the Government from foes, whether from within 
or without, and Kansas, though last and least of the States of the 
Union, will ever be ready to answer the call of her country." 

Governor Robinson cheerfully surrendered his office to 
Governor Carney, who succeeded him on January 12th, 
1863. As to the war policy, Governor Carney followed 
substantially in the footsteps of Governor Robinson, but 
with less difficulty, — largely for two reasons: First, bo- 



THE FIRST GOVERNOR OF THE STATE 291 

cause lie had less opposition at home and at Washington ; 
and second, because he had far less to do, Governor Robin- 
son having mustered and equipped for the service thirteen 
regiments and several batteries, while there were but four 
regiments mustered in Carney's administration, with the 
addition of two colored regiments. Moreover, as the war 
progressed, methods became systematized both at Washing- 
ton and in Kansas, and many difficulties disappeared with 
the disappearance of irregularities. 

~No other Governor of Kansas had so many difficulties to 
encounter as Governor Robinson. The events of the last 
few years had left their heritage of jealousy, hatred, and 
other forms of bitterness. In the constitutional struggle 
there had been persons and parties on both sides of the 
slavery question who had been at bitter feud with one an- 
other. There had been many disappointed, wronged, and 
outraged individuals of the Free-State party fighting a 
similar class of the Proslavery party. There had been 
contentions of politicians with personal ambitions ; bicker- 
ings and strife over land claims. And now, above all, there 
was the impending Civil War, in which Kansas must do 
her part. Much depended upon the prudence and wisdom 
of the first Governor, in order to give the new State a fair 
start in the sisterhood of States. The long delay of Con- 
gress in admitting Kansas to the Union was therefore not 
an unmixed evil, as it gave the Governor an opportunity 
to prepare for the arduous tasks before him. He met all 
with a calm, courageous spirit, started the machinery of 
State government, and gave the new State an impulse to- 
ward right government. 



292 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 



CHAPTER IX. 

SUBSEQUENT EVENTS. 

Compared with his previous experiences in California, 
Massachusetts, and Kansas, the life of Governor Robinson 
after the close of his term as Governor of Kansas was a 
quiet one. Yet it was a life of activity as the world goes, 
for he was two terms in the State Senate, a candidate for 
Congress, a candidate for Governor of Kansas, and was 
Superintendent of Haskell Institute, Regent of the State 
University, and President of the State Historical Society, 
— all of which combined, filled the intervals of a busy agri- 
cultural life. In addition to this, he was more or less fre- 
quently engaged in writing for newspapers and periodicals. 

After the burning of Robinson's house, (in May, 1856,) 
which was situated on the hill south of iSTorth College, in 
Lawrence, he did not rebuild, but moved to his country 
home of " Oakridge," where he spent the remainder of his 
days, except as he was called to and fro in his busy life. 
At Oakridge he built the mansion which is at present stand- 
ing on the place in Grant township. "Oakridge" is a 
beautiful rural estate, situated about four miles north of 
Lawrence. The house is situated on a hill covered with 
natural oaks, around which have been planted maple and 
other deciduous trees. The hill is a bluff, once a bank of 
the Kaw when it reached the northern limit of the Kaw 
valley. Prom the site of the mansion one can see across 
the Kaw valley to the bluffs on the other side of the river, 
and, prominent in the distance, about Hve miles " as the 



SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 293 

crow flies/' a little to the west of south, is Mt. Oread, cov- 
ered with the University buildings. On the south side of 
the river the town of Lawrence is snuggled under the hill 
along the bank and southward. The view is magnificent : 
broad acres of fertile land, avenues of trees, the wandering 
course of the Kaw marked by lines of trees and shubbery, 
and an occasional glimpse of the river's shining surface, 
with the hills on the opposite side mantled in a blue haze. 
Magnificent sunsets, indescribable by power of tongue or 
pen, are seen from this site when the " king of day " goes 
to rest in a blaze of glory, leaving on his trail indescribable 
blues, lavenders, golds, and pinks, gorgeous paintings from 
the studio of nature, done in water, not oils. In the autumn 
the trees of " Oakridge " turn to beautiful browns and reds. 
Kansas is not noted for the brilliancy of its autumn foliage, 
but " Oakridge " never fails to end the autumn season 
by assuming gaudy colors and reflecting a blaze of color 
from the wooded hills. If " Oakridge " seems a trifle se- 
cluded to some, it is never lonely in its magnificent sur- 
roundings. Around the country home and. belonging to the 
Robinson estate are sixteen hundred acres of land, much of 
it very fertile, on which wheat, corn and other crops grow 
luxuriantly. Governor Robinson was an excellent farmer, 
both theoretical and practical. He not only tilled his broad 
acres well, but was interested in improved methods of ag- 
riculture. He was well known in agricultural and horti- 
cultural circles, and frequently addressed societies on topics 
relating to these two great industries. 

Here, in his home of " Oakridge," ex-Governor Robinson 
passed a quiet life, devoting his attention chiefly to the man- 
agement of his farm and the details of private business. 



294 LIFE OF CHAH1ES BOBINSON 

Into his home came newspapers and the recent books, which 
kept him acquainted with the doings of the outer world. 
All the controversies of the day had for him a keen inter- 
est, and frequently, like an old war-horse, he sniffed the 
battle from afar. Nor did he hesitate to engage in contro- 
versies, especially when they had to do with Kansas history 
and the principles involved in the political and social af- 
fairs of everyday life. In taking sides in politics from this 
time on, his old instinct to help the " under dog " was al- 
ways prominent. This peculiarity was probably due not 
only to inborn characteristics, but also to his life in the 
California and Kansas struggles. 

Being a farmer, Governor Robinson had a large sym- 
pathy for people of his own class. He understood well the 
difficulties that beset the farmer of the West in turning 
over the prairie sod, the subsequent trials in fighting against 
the drought, grasshoppers, and other calamities that came 
upon a new State ; and the more recent difficulties caused 
by the rapid falling in prices, or at least the decline in the 
comparative price of farm products on the one hand and 
the rise of manufactured articles and other commodities 
which the farmer was obliged to purchase on the other. He 
also gave help to the farmers in their vigorous attempt to 
free themselves from the latter conditions, which finally 
led to political turmoil in the State. 

While there has been more or less immigration to Kansas 
from the time of settlement until the present time, there 
have been several great movements. The first was the great 
influx of two streams of people, one flowing from the 
North, headed from far-off New England ; the other com- 
ing from the Southern States, headed from the confines of 



SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 295 

Georgia. These people experienced great difficulties in 
arranging their political and social differences, as we have 
learned in previous chapters. Many of these troubles arose 
from the fact of imperfect socialization. When there are 
suddenly brought together large groups of people of very 
different and decided opinions in regard to government, 
politics, social and intellectual life, a period of conflict in 
the process of socialization is inevitable. But, through 
the privations of settlement, the cruelties of strife, and 
sufferings engendered by war, people learn to know each 
other well and through sympathy to harmonize their dif- 
ferences. After the close of the Civil War the questions 
that had troubled Kansas were practically settled, and the 
State entered into a more or less homogeneous development. 
There was, it is true, quite a vigorous influx of old soldiers 
and others, but these merely enlarged the population with- 
out changing public sentiment or disturbing the political 
status of the country. 

But the rapid railroad-building of subsequent years and 
the enormous advertising of which the State was the sub- 
ject brought thousands from all over the country, particu- 
larly from the [Northern and [Northwestern States, who 
rushed in to take up the farm lands of Kansas. Thus there 
was brought in a new population, which had to be assimi- 
lated and socialized into conformity with existing condi- 
tions. Two results followed this great immigration. The 
first was that in the western portion of the State there were 
hastily taken up lands which promised fair, but which from 
the lack of sufficient moisture could not yield a living to 
people through the ordinary process of raising corn or 
wheat. The failure of crop after crop on this semi-arid 



296 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

land caused ruin to many, forcing- them to abandon their 
farms ; while in the minds of those who remained there was 
developed a wretched discontent. 

The other result of this immigration was the fact that 
during this " boom " period of the 80's ? money was readily 
obtained, and farmers borrowed largely to develop the re- 
sources of the country. Then the town movement, a pecu- 
liar disease which affected most of the towns of the State 
and made each one believe or pretend to believe that it was 
to be a great city and a great center, caused investments 
to expand enormously, and through the prospect of sudden 
riches farms were mortgaged and town lots bought, only 
to be returned to corn-fields and pastures after the boom had 
collapsed. Then the farmers found that they had over- 
borrowed Eastern capital and had a long period of liquida- 
tion before them. ~No trouble could have arisen from this 
borrowing money to develop the resources of Kansas, al- 
though this excessive speculation was bad and could only 
end in disaster for many of those who engaged in it. Ev- 
erything would have gone well with Kansas at large, how- 
ever, had the soil continued to produce enormously and 
prices remained fair, but the sudden depression of prices 
that spread over the United States, and indeed the whole 
world, affected the Kansas farmer very seriously. And 
the dull period which followed the collapse of the real-estate 
boom, and the general panic which spread over the United 
States, made it difficult for the farmer to raise enough 
surplus to pay the interest on his mortgages, to say nothing 
about the principal. Hence it was that the farmer found 
himself struggling against enormous odds of debt with rap- 
idly diminishing means of payment, until he saw the prod- 



SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 297 

uct of his farm slipping away to the East, and finally the 
farm itself by degrees, in the payment of interest. 

The tendency of the average American to mix politics 
with his business leads him to suppose that trade depres- 
sions and business failures are largely caused by the po- 
litical situation of the country, and there are always those 
who are interested in gaining votes for themselves by point- 
ing out to the people that it is the action of the Government 
in certain directions that is responsible for their condition. 
So under such conditions as now prevail, therefore, it 
has become common in America to attack the party in 
power, holding it responsible for those conditions, or to 
attack the actions of the Government for bringing the peo- 
ple into such conditions. While the Government, and po- 
litical parties as well, of course have something to do with 
the business of the country, it is a peculiar sort of blind- 
ness that comes over the people or failure to understand 
economic conditions that causes them to so suddenly forget 
or ignore all of the principles of business, the laws of sup- 
ply and demand and of capital and interest, and attack the 
Government, blaming it for the results of their own viola- 
tion of economic and business principles. It is true that 
the farmers had no money at this time, but this was largely 
because they had nothing to sell, or because if they had 
something to sell it was at such a low price as barely to pay 
the cost of production. Either other and cheaper modes 
of production must be found or higher prices must prevail, 
or else farming would be a complete failure. 

The scarcity of gold throughout the world and the fear 
that there was not enough to go around, which sent nations 
scrambling for it, and the cheapness of silver, which caused 



298 



LIFE OF CHAKEES EOBIWSON 



them to discard it, caused prices in general to fall through- 
out the world. But in addition to all this, the Western 
farmer, as we have seen, had to contend with local condi- 
tions even more powerful, which left him practically with- 
out an income and with a large debt to pay. What was the 
remedy ? Did not the Government make money ? Why 
then should it not make money for them to use in payment 
of debts ? And so there arose many other demands than 
for the increase of the money in circulation. A remedy 
advocated by many was the free coinage of silver, which 
had been discontinued in 1873. Others held that this 
would only be a makeshift, and that the only remedy w 7 ould 
be the issue by the Government of a large amount of paper 
money. Governor Robinson advocated the latter idea. 
He favored the party that was fighting for free coinage of 
silver and other remedial legislation, because it was the 
party that favored giving the most money to the common 
people ; but he really believed in the paper money as the 
ultimate end to be reached. 

The Grange movement, which was organized in 1866 and 
spread with such rapidity over the United States in the 
seventies, started out as a non-partisan movement, whose 
purposes were to increase the social, moral and financial 
well-being of the farmers, and had a great deal of influence 
in the process of socialization ; but finally it was conceived 
in the minds of some that this organization might be used 
as a great political engine, and the farmers were persuaded 
that their grievances could only be redressed at the polls 
and in the legislature. Hence it was that, through the in- 
fluence of the farmers, legislatures throughout the Western 
States were elected with the express purpose of enacting 




MRS. S. T. D. ROBINSON, 1864. 



SUBSEQUENT EVERTS 299 

special legislation in favor of the farming communities. 
While the Grange accomplished a great deal in the social 
and educational way, and while, by bringing the consumer 
and manufacturer more closely together, it also succeeded 
in reducing the enormously high prices for products man- 
ufactured in the East and sold by agents throughout the 
West, yet its political attempts largely ended in failure. 
The legislation which it brought about proved rather detri- 
mental to the progress of the Western States than advan- 
tageous to them. 

In the eighties the Farmers' Alliance was started, largely 
on the same principles as the Grange had advocated. It 
was, indeed, only a reecho of the old organization, which 
had declined as prosperity had returned and the political 
phases failed. The Farmers' Alliance sought to help the 
farmer in every way possible, and at first, through agita- 
tion and the arousing of public sentiment, to influence leg- 
islation in their favor. Here again, as before, the politi- 
cians seized the organization, and through it sought to re- 
lieve the distressed condition of the farmer by specific 
legislation. While good has been accomplished by the 
agitation attendant upon the Alliance movement, nearlv all 
the legislation enacted through its efforts has been a partial 
or total failure ; and the Alliance stores, like those of the 
Grange, went out of business. In this case, as in the other. 
the people were led into error by designing demagogues 
and politicians who were only seeking to satisfy their 
thirst for power and spoils. 

True to the governing principles of his life, ex-Governor 
Robinson sympathized with the new movement. He left 
the Republican party in 1SS6 as his ideas grew more demo- 



300 



LIFE OF CHARLES KOBINSOK" 



cratic and as he saw, according to his judgment, that the 
Kepublican party was not doing what it ought to for the 
people. Possibly, too, his political life under the Kepub- 
lican regime had come to such a sudden end that there was 
no prospect of working in harmony with that party. At any 
rate, from the close of the war Governor Robinson had not 
so warm a feeling for the Republican party as might have 
been expected on the part of one so well versed regarding 
the conditions of its origin, from both a theoretical and 
practical standpoint. However, it was in accordance with 
the independent spirit of the man, who rebelled at the re- 
straint of a political regime. 

He was elected on the Republican ticket to the State Sen- 
ate in 1874, and again in 1876 to a second term. While the 
Republican party at this time was almost the only politi- 
cal power in the State, and though Governor Robinson, as 
a member of the Senate, took a deep interest in all matters 
which interested the State, he had but little to do with 
the present organization. In 1886 he was induced to leave 
that party and enter upon a political campaign as candidate 
for Congress against E. H. Funston, but he failed of elec- 
tion. In 1890 he was induced to run for Governor, sup- 
ported by the Democrats, and the Populists and Green- 
backers. He again failed to be elected; but in 1892 he 
helped organize the fusion of the Democrats and Populists, 
which ended in the election of the Populist Governor 
Lewelling. 

While Governor Robinson did not formally leave the 
Republican party until 1886, he had followed the liberal 
wing of the party after 1872, and had gradually become 
more and more estranged from the old party until his final 










~d- 



EX-GOVERNOR CHARLES ROBINSON, 1872. 



SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 301 

separation from it in 1886. From that time on he was a 
counselor to the leaders of the Democratic party, to which 
he most closely adhered, and also to the leaders of the Popu- 
list party. 

In his campaign for Congress, and more especially for 
Governor, he attacked the tariff policy of the United States. 
He held that the tariff was heing used as a tool to enhance 
the power and increase the wealth of the rich; that the 
hurdens of taxation were falling upon the poor hy the 
spread of monopolistic power ; and while he would not ob- 
ject to a moderate revenue being raised by the tariff, he 
believed that laborers were not being protected by it and 
that the poor people were paying the taxes. 

While Governor Robinson was always active with pen 
and voice in the political affairs that concerned the people, 
his last public office in the State was that of Senator, in 
1876, and his last public campaign was for Governor in 
1890; although he held the position of Superintendent 
at Haskell Institute, an appointment made by the Federal 
Government. 

Perhaps the most important act of Governor Robinson 
while in the State Senate was the introduction of a bill re- 
lating to the common schools. Of the many bills intro- 
duced by him that became laws, some of them in reference 
to local matters in Douglas county and others having an 
importance throughout the State, this one is of the most 
importance. It is not surprising that the man who had so 
much to do with the establishing of the first public and pri- 
vate schools in the State, who by his courage and cool 
judgment before and during the Civil War made it possi- 
ble for the people of Kansas to have free schools, and who 



302 



LIFE OE CHARLES EOBIK'SOtf 



used his powerful influence in the advancement of higher 
education in the State, should have prepared and secured 
the passage of a law for the regulation of these schools. 
This law purported to include all the Kansas school laws 
in existence at that time, together with such changes as were 
desirable. It therefore served to bring together all the 
law on the subject, as well as to enact new law. It is upon 
this act that much of our present school law is based, al- 
though many changes have been made as occasion has re- 
quired. The law covers all of the following subjects: 
State and county superintendents, — duties and salaries; 
school districts, — when, how and by whom organized ; dis- 
trict officers, — duties, how and when elected; schools, — 
branches taught, length of term, who are pupils ; teachers' 
institutes, — how, when and where held; certificates, — 
three grades, given by whom ; graded schools ; libraries ; 
schools in cities of first and second class, — board of educa- 
tion, powers, officers, duties, levying tax, issuance of bonds ; 
cities of third class, — defined, how governed; district 
bonds, — how issued, for what purpose, how paid; school 
lands, — when sold, how sold, and price; school funds. 
The law was comprehensive, and sufficiently complete to 
fully organize the public-school system of the State. 

The Quantrell massacre, which occurred on August 21st, 
1863, was the most atrocious affair that has happened in 
the whole history of Kansas. The enmity which existed 
along the border on the part of a certain class of reck- 
less people of Missouri, against Kansas, and especially 
against Lawrence, never died out, and with its continuance 
was the ever-present desire for revenge. The justice-loving 



SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 303 

people of Missouri and Kansas, as well as those of the whole 
world, were startled at its horrible cruelty. But the raiders 
knew, and the people of Lawrence knew, that it was not 
an accident of the Civil War. ISTot that there is a valid 
excuse in Christendom for such a raid and massacre ; but 
it was caused by designing ruffians who had long nursed 
their hatred and cultivated their desire for revenge. 

At the time of the raid Governor Robinson was living 
at the head of Massachusetts street. On that morning he 
left his home to go to the stone barn which stood near 
what was afterward the home of the late B. W. Wood- 
ward. He had proceeded as far south as Quincy street, 
when rapid firing was heard to the east of him. People 
came running and said, "The bushwhackers have come ; run 
for your life ! " He proceeded to the stone barn, which 
sheltered him for a time, but, seeing buildings burning 
near him, and supposing that the barn would soon share 
the same fate, he moved out to the top of the hill. Here 
he saw two men shoot Mr. Martin and then ride away 
toward the eastern part of town, where the whole band of 
guerrillas were forming on the high ground near where 
now stands the Friends' meeting-house. As he returned 
to the main street again, a scene of indescribable horror 
met his gaze. The town was burned and sacked, and hon- 
ored citizens lay dead or dying in every direction. With- 
out any opportunity for defense, citizens were murdered 
on sight, their homes plundered and burned. There can 
be no estimate placed upon the atrocious work of those brief 
three hours, except to say that it was worse than the deeds 
of savages, and that it could not have been done except 
through a spirit of revenge. It was the result of years 



304 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

of raiding and invasion by nn-rnilitary bands of men who 
committed un-rnilitary deeds. Without doubt remote 
causes could be detected prior to 1861, but the immediate 
occasion was the raiding in Missouri of " Jayhawkers." 

On Sunday, August 21st, 1892, the anniversary of the 
Quantrell Eaid, after the publication of " The Kansas Con- 
flict, 77 Governor Robinson gave an address at the services 
held in Central Park in commemoration of the most atro- 
cious massacre on record in modern times and among civil- 
ized people. In this address Governor Robinson gave his 
personal recollections of the event, and then proceeded to 
show that the Quantrell raid was but a sequel to other 
events ; that it was nothing more than an attempt to retali- 
ate for the terrorism practiced by desperadoes on the border 
hailing from Kansas. Governor Robinson received severe 
criticism for his bold assertions respecting the Quantrell 
raid, and, true to the habit of his life, he took up the pen 
in vindication of his position, and, as usual, referred his 
readers to what he actually knew existed in the years of 
1861 to 1863. 

While Governor Robinson contributed frequently to the 
papers concerning the historical, political and social affairs 
of the State and nation, his greatest work was " The Kan- 
sas Conflict. 77 He spent much time and labor in collecting 
material, and wrote with much care. When the book was 
finally published it received many interesting reviews and 
much favorable comment by the press. There was also con- 
siderable sharp criticism of the book, because it was written, 
so his critics said, from a partisan standpoint, and was con- 
troversy rather than history. In reality, " The Kansas 



SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 305 

Conflict " is not a complete history of early Kansas, but a 
complete and authoritative account of particular phases 
of it. It presents the principal issues in the struggle for 
freedom in Kansas, and substantiates the position of the 
writer by numerous quotations from authorities. The 
book is well written, argumentative, and strong. It will 
always prove a monument of history to those studying the 
Kansas conflict. There are comparatively few really good 
bocks on Kansas history. Among these should be men- 
tioned those already referred to: '''Kansas; its Interior 
and Exterior Life/' by Mrs. Kobinson ; " Kansas," by Mr. 
Spring ; Connelley's " Territorial Governors " ; Wilder 7 s 
"Annals," a compendium of facts and dates ; Dr. Cordley's 
" History of Lawrence " ; and the one under discussion, 
" The Kansas Conflict." It ?'s not intended to ignore the 
many excellent things in a number of other books, but these 
represent the best accounts, and all combined give a fair 
representation of neaily all of importance that happened 
in the early history of the State. 

" The Kansas Conflict " produced a profound impression 
wherever it went, among friends and foes. Senator John J. 
Ingalls thought it a remarkable book, and said so. Favor- 
able comments were made by many others, who were non- 
partisans in Kansas history. One prominent man declared 
that he would not read the book, as he was on the other side, 
— in reality a severe criticism upon the man himself, who 
thus assumed that there was nothing to be learned from his 
opponents; and, at the same time, a slur upon the book, 
as if it were a partisan production. 

Perhaps it may be well to state that the book is an argu- 
ment of a case in which the plaintiff is the Free-State cause 

—20 



306 



LIFE OF CHAELES ROBINSON 



and the defendant is the Proslavery party ; and in the ar- 
raignment, little opportunity is given for the defense, as the 
overwhelming evidence for the plaintiff is final. Nor is the 
author slow to vindicate his course in the Kansas struggle, 
nor to defend himself against the attacks of his enemies. 
This is carried so far as to throw the book out of historical 
proportion, and leave many events of the history of the 
times untouched or rneagerly represented. But the author 
carried out his purpose, which was not to write a complete 
history of Kansas, hut to set right popular belief concern- 
ing the great steps in the conflict between slavery and free- 
dom in Kansas. The book is a truthful representation of 
this phase of history, although there is much to be said in 
addition if the entire history of the times is presented. 
The first part of the book readily passes for plain narration, 
but the author goes from this to pure argumentation, sub- 
stantiated by historical facts. The book stands as Robin- 
son's view of the conflict, and the story is told so well that 
whatever criticism a reader may have to make, he must ad- 
mit the main thesis, that non-resistance to Federal author- 
ity and a free ballot with an honest count were the two great 
causes of the salvation of Kansas, — causes whose reality 
every one who studies Kansas history properly will be 
obliged to admit, — causes that will not be overshadowed 
by military " bluffing," deeds of crime, nor personal ambi- 
tions. 

It is a vigorous book, a lasting book, characterized by 
pungent writing, in which the author attempts to set forth, 
by argument and proof, the real character of this struggle. 
In it he gives a graphic picture of the early abolition days, 
of his struggle in California, and the details of the strug- 



SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 307 

gle in Kansas. In every instance where he reviews the 
services of Brown and Lane in this book, he does not ask 
the public to rely entirely on his judgment in the case, but 
quotes freely, from the beginning to the end of the work, 
newspapers, documents and speeches to prove his view of 
the matter in question. Perhaps no other book has brought 
so clearly before the people the real issue in the Kansas 
struggle and the actual progress of that struggle. And 
perhaps of all the writings of the Governor, this work rep- 
resents more clearly his views upon the chief matters that 
concerned his life than all others of his work combined, 
whether writings, speeches, or addresses. 

Yet there is something lacking in the book ; for the pub- 
lic would like to know more concerning his personal life 
and character. Not being a biography, it could not give the 
personal details of his life in many respects. Neverthe- 
less, being a history of which he was an important part, it 
could not fail to represent him in the greatest part of his 
life-work. 

The controversy over the temperance question and the 
prohibitory law called forth the argumentative powers of 
Governor Robinson. While he was always a strong advo- 
cate of temperance, he opposed the prohibitory law be- 
cause he thought it an impractical method of dealing with 
the question. It also appeared to him to be an infringe- 
ment upon the personal liberty of citizens to such an ex- 
tent that it would not only defeat its own purpose, but 
would lead to other evils and create a disregard for law. 
He expressed himself freely in the defense of his position 
in a series of articles covering the entire operation of the 
law. The articles are strong, and vehement almost to vin- 



308 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 



dictiveness in the denunciations of the shams of pretended 
enforcement and the methods taken for the evasion of the 
law. While Governor Robinson was honest in his views, 
and thought and wrote from conviction, he is less happy in 
the position taken here than in many other controversies 
that engaged his attention. (See Chapter XII.) 

Bobinson had a wide sympathy with the laboring people 
who were struggling for higher wages. Had he been a 
selfish man, he would have looked after the interests of the 
farming population alone, but he was interested in all move- 
ments which had for their object, justice to humanity. He 
had become preeminently a people's man, opposed to all 
invasions of the people's rights, real or imaginary. When 
the Pullman strike occurred, followed by the railway strike, 
during the leadership of the American Railway Union, he 
at once took sides with the strikers against the latter in 
a vigorous article entitled " Corporate Power." He ad- 
vocated restrictions of corporations to prevent robbery. 
In this article he states that "Another cause of discontent 
is the robbery of the people by the corporation laws. These 
laws have filled the land with thieves and robbers who are 
more merciless in their exactions than was ever feudal lord 
of his vassal." He held that if highway robbery were 
stopped and exact justice meted out to all classes, there 
would be no cause for strikes. He declared that the alter- 
native to this was to deprive the people of education and 
reduce them to abject slavery. He said the government 
must make the choice between these two methods, but if it 
hesitated too long the people would take the matter in their 
own hands and attempt to redress their grievances by force. 

Governor Robinson was interested in the history of Kan- 



SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 309 

sas, and was ever on the alert for its truthful representation. 
It is quite natural that one who had had so much to do with 
making history should have had an interest in its records. 
He was a member and director of the Kansas Historical So- 
ciety from 1878 to the time of his death, and served one 
term as its president. He was instrumental in contribut- 
ing to its records in various ways. Others were more ac- 
tively engaged in its foundation and support than himself, 
but none felt more deeply its importance to the State. 

Governor Robinson was elected a member of the Loyal 
Legion, a military order, having the headquarters of the 
commandery of the State of Kansas at Leavenworth. The 
order was composed of those statesmen and soldiers who had 
rendered distinguished services to the cause of the Union in 
the Civil War. Many of the most distinguished army of- 
ficers and statesmen, including nearly all of the war govern- 
ors, were members of the Loyal Legion. 

While at Oakridge, Governor Eobinson took much inter- 
est in the affairs of the rural community in which he lived, 
and especially in the young people of the neighborhood. 
He took part in the frequent entertainments in the school- 
house near his home, and superintended the Sunday-school 
each Sunday afternoon. His kindly interest in the young- 
people of the neighborhood is shown by the fact that he had 
been known to come from Topeka, during his term as State 
Senator, to attend the gathering at the school-house, return- 
ing to Topeka on the night train in order to be on hand the 
next day for senatorial duty. He was a member of the 
local grange, and was interested in the farmers' meetings. 
He was also a member of the Good Templars, an order that 
held frequent meetings at the Robinson school-house. 



310 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

Later, in the great Farmers' Alliance movement, he at- 
tended the meetings of farmers, and when the Alliance went 
into politics with the Populist movement his sympathies 
were with them. 

Dr. Robinson was in nature and spirit an abolitionist, 
nor was he afraid at any time to announce his views, and, 
so far as history records, he never compromised with the 
slavery element at any time. Nevertheless, he was in- 
clined to peace if possible, and was always generous towards 
his enemies. In December, 1863, he received a letter from 
Leavenworth asking him to address a public meeting in 
that town, upon " The expediency of extending the elective 
franchise to the colored population of the State." The in- 
vitation also asked him to present his views by letter in case 
he could not come in person. In reply to this invitation, 
he says : 

" Having received my education and early convictions of political 
rights in the heart of Massachusetts, where suffrage knows no dis- 
tinction of color or race, I can see but one side to the proposition 
in question. 

" The white and colored people have a common origin, are endowed 
alike with intellect, with moral and religious natures, and have a 
common destiny. If this proposition is correct, it follows from ne- 
cessity that both alike are entitled to equal civil, political, moral and 
religious rights, according to the principles laid down in the Declara- 
tion of Independence by our ancestors and according to the unmis- 
takable laws of God himself, who is no respecter of persons. No 
valid argument can be produced against the right of suffrage for the 
colored man. Prejudice has suggested various objections, such as 
ignorance, vice, etc. But if the Japanese or Hindoos, who know noth- 
ing of our language, customs or institutions, can become sufficiently 
enlightened in five years to vote, surely the native colored man, after 
a pupilage of twenty-one years, ought not to be excluded on account 
of ignorance. 




MRS. S. T. D. ROBINSON, 1898. 



SUBSEQUENT EVENTS 311 

" As a peaceable, law-abiding people, according to my observa- 
tion, they compare favorably with the white race. 

" Will the people of Kansas extend the right of suffrage to the 
colored man? I think they will. A majority of the people of this 
State are in favor of equal rights to all, as our history demonstrates. 
At the first constitutional convention, held in Topeka, the politicians 
believed it would be unpopular to leave out of the constitution the 
word 'white.' Accordingly, but a few voted against its insertion. 
Those few are counted out of the Free-State party, and stigmatized 
as abolitionists by the political weathercocks. The convention to 
nominate State officers, however, put in nomination these same 
abolitionists. Not satisfied that this was the voice of the people, a 
ticket was put in the field called the Anti-Abolition ticket. This 
failing by a large vote, the weathercocks veered suddenly to the 
north, where they have remained ever since. The word ' white ' was 
inserted in subsequent constitutions, more to conciliate favor at 
Washington than to conform to the wishes of the people of the State. 
As there is no longer any good reason for retaining the word in our 
Constitution, and as the antislavery men, who were such from educa- 
tion and conviction, are in the majority and will favor striking it 
out, and as all the political adventurers and demagogues have be- 
come for the sake of position more radically anti-slavery than 
Garrison himself, in profession at least, there will be no difficulty in 
procuring a two-thirds vote in the Legislature and a majority of the 
people in favor of negro suffrage." 

However rtmcli nien may differ with Governor Robin- 
son in politics, religion, and public policy, no one who will 
examine bis career can help admiring bim as a citizen and 
a patriot. Industrious in managing bis own affairs, be 
still bad time for public service wben called to it, and after 
it was over be went back to tbe plow more cheerfully than 
be entered public life. If bis defeat for Governor of the 
State in 1890, or his earlier defeat for Congress, caused 
him great disappointment, no one knew it. He would 
rather have been defeated on the Democratic ticket than 
have been elected on the Republican, because he believed 



312 



LIFE OF CHARLES BOBINSOK" 



that the latter was not faithful to its trust. He thought 
in each case that if elected he could serve his country well. 
If not elected, it was well. He was not in the ordinary 
sense an office-seeker, but, like a true patriot of the old 
school, he was ready to respond to his country's need, and 
suffer and even die if need be, for his principles, as the his- 
tory of his life shows. 



CONTROVERSIES 313 



CHAPTER X. 

CONTROVERSIES. 

The life of Robinson would not be complete without 
an exposition of the various controversies about Kansas his- 
tory that engaged his attention during the latter years of his 
life. However, in referring to these the writer makes no 
attempt to settle them, but merely wishes to point out the 
attitude which Robinson assumed in the chief controver- 
sies concerning early Kansas history. To do this satisfac- 
torily it will be necessary to refer briefly to the causes of 
some of these controversies, whose chief points turn on the 
policies and actions of Brown and Lane in Kansas. 

In the early period of Kansas history there were Lane 
and anti-Lane people down to the time of Lane's death in 
1866. There was also a variety of opinions concerning 
the deeds and services of John Brown in Kansas. What- 
ever value his services were to the cause of freedom in 
Kansas, he took a different view of the struggle from a 
large majority of the Free-State men. Lane also repre- 
sented a radical element of the Free-State party. After 
the early struggle had passed and the Free-State cause had 
won, various writers took up the history of the conflict from 
different points of view and from somewhat partisan stand- 
points, which brought about many conflicting opinions and 
led to many controversies. 

While the differences of opinion always existed, the real 
beginning of the controversy was made prominent by the 
testimony of Gov. Robinson before the select committee of 



314 



LIFE OF CHABEES SOBINSON 



the Senate, appointed to inquire into the invasion and seiz- 
ure of public property at Harper's Ferry. This committee 
carried on its investigations early in the year of 1860. 
Robinson was summoned as a witness, sworn and examined 
on February 10th of that year. In this examination Rob- 
inson was called to testify respecting the purpose of Brown. 
He pointed out that Brown had told him that he had not 
come to Kansas for the purpose of settling at all: " He 
would never have come there had it not been for the diffi- 
culties, and had he not expected those difficulties would 
result in a general disturbance in the country ; and that was 
what he desired. He desired to see slavery abolished, and 
he hoped that the two sections would get into a conflict 
which would result in abolishing slavery." As the exam- 
ination proceeded Robinson stated further: "I cannot re- 
call his language again ; but I understood him that he ex- 
pected the difficulties there would result in a collision be- 
tween the North and the South ; I understood him to be 
in favor of encouraging or fanning the disturbances there 
until that would result. I understood that he thought that 
was an opportunity to get at slavery in the country and 
abolish it; and he came there for that purpose, and not 
simply to operate in Kansas, and for Kansas alone. That 
is where he and I differed, and we could not agree." 

This testimony placed Brown outside of the general 
policy of the Free- St ate people in Kansas. In answer to 
the question as to whether others sympathized with Brown 
or united with him in this policy, Robinson replied in the 
affirmative. Pressed for a more definite answer, Robinson 
named James Redpath as one who favored and abetted 
Brown in his attempt to get up an insurrection. 1 Further 

1 Beport of Senate Committee, No. 278, Thirty-sixth Congress, p. 1. 



CONTKOVEKSIES 315 

on in the testimony Robinson stated that " There was a 
movement got np there at one time to massacre all the pro- 
slavery men in the Territory. " He proceeded to explain 
that this attempt failed. Further investigation developed 
the fact that Redpath had been a hitter denunciator of 
Robinson and of all his followers until he had a falling-out 
with General Lane; then Redpath made a confidant of 
Robinson, telling him of Lane's plans. In this interview 
Redpath told Robinson that, as a statesman, Robinson 
could not have done differently, but that " they had differ- 
ent objects in view." 

This testimony enraged Redpath, excited the Lane men, 
and disturbed many of Robinson's followers, who feared 
that he had exposed the Free-State cause to criticism. 
This testimony called out a bitter attack from Redpath 
and criticism from other sources, and Robinson took up 
the pen in his own defense and was able to show that he 
stated the truth as he was sworn to do. But the real con- 
troversy about Brown did not occur until after the state- 
ment of James Townsley, one of the men who accompanied 
Brown in the Pottawatomie massacre, which appeared in 
the Lawrence Journal, December 10th, 1879. It was a 
firebrand in the camp of Brown's followers and admirers. 
Townsley gave a detailed description of the massacre, 
which, as Sanborn said, was in the main correct. It caused 
people to shudder at the horrors of the affair. 

A fierce controversy arose in the following years con- 
cerning the policy and services of Brown in Kansas. Rev. 
David Utters article on Brown, appearing in the North 
American Review, in November, 1883, aroused a storm of 
criticism. Utter used vigorous language, calling Brown a 



316 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 



" murderer and midnight assassin.' ' Whereupon Sanborn, 
John Brown, jr., Hint on and others took up the defense 
of Brown. Utter was aided in his own defense by many 
of his friends, who were glad to see the excessive laudation 
of Brown checked. Robinson was drawn into the contro- 
versy, in which he uses vigorous language against those 
who intentionally or inadvertently perverted history. 
Finally, induced by a statement in the Springfield (Mass.) 
Republican, by F. B. Sanborn, respecting the Pottawatomie 
massacre, in which Sanborn, referring to Brown's services 
in Kansas, asserts " The hour and the man had come," 
Robinson in 1884 commenced a series of articles in the 
Kansas Herald, on " The Man and the Hour," in which 
he gives an exposition of early Kansas history, and indi- 
cates the part Brown took in the struggle. 

In beginning this series of letters, Governor Robinson 
said: 

" My object is not to disparage anyone, but to give my views of 
the events at this period, with causes and effects as seen from my 
standpoint, I do not propose to influence public sentiment of to-day, 
but to put on record facts to be considered by the writers of history 
fifty years hence. I am more and more convinced that no history 
of Kansas worthy of the name can be written before that time, for 
not until then will hero-worship die out and the heroes find their 
proper level." 

Governor Robinson throughout this entire series of let- 
ters, though severely critical, was eminently fair in stating 
the truth from the standpoint of his experience. He 
thought that the facts were not always given, and conse- 
quently history was distorted. While he seemed anxious 
that a correct understanding of the early struggles of the 
people of Kansas should be handed down to posterity, and 



CONTROVERSIES 317 

wrote for that purpose, he was especially indignant at the 
attempt of certain writers to show that Brown was the 
chief factor in the battle for freedom in Kansas. The 
claims that were made, that the blows struck by Brown in 
his guerrilla warfare saved Kansas to Freedom did in- 
justice to himself and other leaders of the Free-State cause, 
and he very properly resented them with a very vigorous 
pen. 

It was further maintained by some of the champions of 
Brown, that victory was won by the savage retaliatory 
measures, and that the people were protected by the deeds 
of Brown and his followers. Robinson held in the contro- 
versy that these vigorous measures rather increased than 
diminished the difficulties. However the final judgment 
of history may determine the value of the guerrilla warfare, 
the facts of history show conclusively that there was a 
Teign of terror from the Pottawatomie massacre in May, 
1856, to the coming of Geary in the following September. 
Robinson was at Leavenworth at the time of the news of 
the deed at Pottawatomie, and it caused great excitement 
there, and was one of the causes which led to the attempt 
to hang him. 

It would be but just to say, however, that the deeds 
of Brown were not the sole causes of the predatory warfare. 
Admitting that he inaugurated the fierce war of retaliation 
which taught the Proslavery people that Free-State men 
could shoot as well as talk, and fight to the death if need 
be, in the defense of their cause ; recognizing that instead 
of checking the depredations of lawless bands, he had a 
tendency to increase them; and that a leading historian 
is correct in stating that " The news of the horrid affair 



318 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 



spread rapidly over the Territory, carrying with it a thrill 
of horror such as the people, used as they had become to 
deeds of murder, had not felt before," 1 it certainly cannot 
be claimed that Brown and his followers were the sole cause 
of the state of anarchy that followed. We must keep in 
mind the facts that Buford's and Titus's men had arrived 
from the South with a view of contesting the Territory in 
behalf of slavery, and to practice a savage warfare; that 
the people of Missouri had not yet given up the idea of ex- 
terminating " Abolitionists " by physical force ; that the 
sack of Lawrence, in which the Free- State Hotel and 
printing-presses were destroyed and Governor Robinson's 
house burned, greatly incensed the Free-State men and 
aroused their fighting qualities; that the arrest and im- 
prisonment of Robinson and other leaders of the Free-State 
cause increased the boldness of the invaders ; and, finally, 
that the news of the attack on Sumner by Brooks in the 
United States Senate, on account of the defense of Kansas 
by the former, added fuel to the flames. 

Certain it is, that the methods of the border ruffians 
prevailed throughout the summer of 1856. Armed bands 
from Missouri and the South burned homes and robbed 
and murdered unoffending citizens, and this mode of war- 
fare was met by the Free-State men, who, stung to resist- 
ance through the long category of burning wrongs, finally 
armed for defense. There were hot-headed and reckless 
Free-State men who were more than willing to meet with 
armed resistance the cruel attacks of the ruffians of Mis- 
souri. While the authorities of the South favored the Pro- 
slavery movement in Kansas, there were many noble people 

1 Andreas, p. 181, 



CONTROVERSIES 319 

in Missouri who opposed the cruel guerrilla warfare. 
However, in the summer of 1856 the worst elements of 
ruffianism, urged on by such unprincipled men as Atchison 
and Stringfellow, came into Kansas and were met and held 
in check with the utmost difficulty. All through the sum- 
mer of 1856, settlers were terrorized by the presence of 
armed bands of Missourians, and these were met by 
reckless bands of Free-State men. Cabins were burned, 
depredations committed, and people could travel nowhere 
in safety. The troubles gradually grew worse, until the 
strife culminated on the 14th of September by the arrival 
of twenty-seven hundred Missourians before the city of 
Lawrence. Had it not been for the timely arrival of Gov- 
ernor Geary, Lawrence would have been destroyed and 
possibly the Free-State cause permanently lost. 

The real point at issue, however, between Robinson and 
the admirers of Brown, was, that while the latter claimed 
that the victory was won by retaliatory warfare, Robinson 
claimed that it was due to the conservative element of the 
Free-State party, who, through long suffering, avoided 
open rupture with the Federal authorities. It is well 
known that Brown advocated open resistance to the author- 
ities, while Robinson opposed it. While Robinson was de- 
tained as a prisoner at Lecompton, Brown and also Lane 
offered to rescue him. Robinson in each case refused to be 
rescued, because it would bring the Free- St ate cause into 
rebellion with the Federal authorities. It is the greatest 
fact in the history of Kansas, that the conservative policy 
won and that the final triumph was recorded in the protec- 
tion of the Federal authorities and the victory at the ballot- 
box. In all of this, "Governor Robinson stood as the repre- 



320 life OF CHAELES EOBINSON 

sentative of the cool, clear-headed, conservative settlers, 
ready to die if necessary for Freedom, willing and able to 
save the State at all hazards, but seeking the wisest method 
of action in order to prevent bloodshed." In speaking of 
this point, George W. Martin, Secretary of the Kansas 
Historical Society, in his review of " The Kansas Con- 
flict," says : " The Proslavery men were all Missourians, 
non-residents and invaders, and the policy of their leaders 
was to bring the Free- St ate men in conflict with the General 
Government. The Free- St ate men were further embar- 
rassed by the efforts of John Brown to the same end, Brown 
having acknowledged that his mission in Kansas was to 
precipitate a conflict between the sections, as he subse- 
quently attempted at Harper's Ferry." 1 

One other point of controversy which furnished the 
ground of resistance of Robinson, was the attitude of writ- 
ers concerning the Pottawatomie massacre. The deed was 
so atrocious that the defenders of Brown for a number of 
years denied his connection with it. Even Wendell Phil- 
lips said that Brown was twenty miles from Pottawatomie 
at the time ; Hinton claimed that Brown was thirty miles 
away ; and Redpath also claimed that Brown was twenty- 
five miles away. Another refuge of some of Brown's ad- 
mirers was in the assertion that the savage deed was com- 
mitted by Indians; but, having been obliged finally to 
admit that Brown was present, the next step was to assert 
that he was in command but did not commit the crime. 
However, Connelley, in his recent " Life of John Brown," 
takes the ground that he was present and in command; 
hence that he was guilty of the whole massacre even 

1 Kansas City Gazette, 1892. 



CONTROVERSIES 321 

though he did not strike a blow. The final position of the 
defenders of this deed is, that it was necessary to terrorize 
the Proslavery men in order to cause a cessation of hostili- 
ties, and to beat back the hordes of Missourians by force 
of arms in order to save the Free-State cause. All of these 
points, except the recent version of Connelley, Governor 
Robinson attacked with a vigorous pen, assuming that they 
were all wrongly taken. 

On the other hand, Robinson was accused of inconsist- 
ency because it is alleged that he approved of the Potta- 
watomie affair when it was committed, and subsequently 
severely criticized the deed. In answer, Robinson denies 
having ever approved Brown's work at this massacre, but 
he did write him a letter dated at Lawrence, September 
14th, 1856, commending his work at the battle of Osawato- 
mie. This letter is now in the collection of the State His- 
torical Society of Kansas. 

When John Brown brought a letter from Amos A. Law- 
rence, of Boston, to Charles Robinson, in which it was 
stated that if Robinson thought Brown was to be trusted 
he could give him arms and money, Robinson refused to 
help Brown, because the latter showed by his utterances 
that he was ready to fight the Federal Government and to 
precipitate a revolution. That is, the policy of Brown 
being in direct opposition to the policy of Robinson, the 
latter was not in sympathy with him. But it appears that 
in 1878 Robinson wrote to James Hanway as follows: 
"I never had much doubt that Captain Brown was the 
author of the blow at Pottawatomie, for the reason that he 
was the only man that comprehended the situation and saw 
the absolute necessity of some such blow and had the nerve 

—21 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

to strike it." Again, in the summer of 1877, in a public 
speech at Osawatomie, Kobinson gave expression to simi- 
lar sentiments ; also in 1859-60, in a speech at Lawrence, 
he is said to have uttered something similar. But, after 
the testimony of Mr. Townsley appeared, Eobinson changed 
his attitude. From this time on he ceases to praise Brown 
for the act and to excuse the savageness of the deed. In 
two letters published in the Boston Transcript in 1884, he 
explains his attitude, and why he changed his opinion. In 
the Transcript of June 12th, he said: 

" Until the testimony of Mr. Townsley appeared, many Free-State 
men apologized for the massacre on the ground that the men killed 
were worthy of death for their crimes. With these apologies I sym- 
pathized, supposing what Redpath and others said was true. This 
was the testimony on which the case chiefly rested till Townsley's 
was given. Had Redpath's statements proved true as to the character 
and conduct of the men killed, I should have continued to apologize 
for the men who committed the deed, although it never could be 
justified. But I have now become satisfied that Redpath's account is 
all fiction, except the statement that the men were killed. I believe 
these men had committed no crime, and had threatened to commit 
none. Townsley's statement that Brown wanted him to go up the 
creek five or six miles and point out the cabins of all the Proslavery 
men, that they might make a clean sweep as they came down, shows 
conclusively that he was ready to kill any Proslavery man, guilty or 
not guilty, and hence shows that his purpose was to inaugurate war, 
and not to make a free State." 

In the same paper on August 15th he expressed himself 
as follows : 

" For Mr. Sanborn's information, I will say that I entertain no 
malice toward his hero, having apologized for him probably a thour 
sand times, and never lifted a finger to oppose any honors to his 
memory by the State or nation. While I believed the men butchered 
were bad men, belligerents as described bj Redpath and others, I 
excused the killing as best I could, and contemplated writing out a 



CONTROVERSIES 323 

statement to be filed with our Historical Society, setting forth the 
outrages committed by these and similar men. But before I found 
the time to write this statement I became satisfied from new and 
conclusive evidence that these men were innocent of all crime or 
threatened crime, and that their taking-off was not intended for the 
protection of the Free-State men from their outrages and such as 
theirs, but was intended by Brown as an act of offensive war. When 
I became satisfied on these points, I abandoned the work and ceased 
apologies for Brown." 

While the whole Brown controversy engendered bitter 
feelings on the part of some of those engaged in it, that 
feeling is practically gone. While there were many misun- 
derstandings and misrepresentations concerning the facts 
in the case, it is but just to say that those engaged in the 
controversy really intended to give truthful representa- 
tions of the case from their own standpoint. Many errors 
were corrected and points of discrepancy removed by the 
controversy. Every one now sees with a clearer vision the 
full import of Brown's presence in Kansas, and under- 
stands more thoroughly the reason for Robinson's attitude 
toward him. Here, as elsewhere, Robinson is honest in his 
convictions, and acted conscientiously in his changing 
views of the situation, evidently brought about by more 
light upon the subject, and possibly, too, by the admirers 
of Brown who persistently held to what Robinson deemed 
false positions. 

At any rate, it must be remembered that Brown had no 
intention of becoming a citizen of Kansas, but that he came 
to Kansas incidentally to help his sons fight their battles, 
and, purposely, to use Kansas as a lever to move the walls 
of slavery. One only need follow his course to be con- 
vinced of his object. He was at Lawrence during the 
Wakarusa War, which occurred in the autumn of 1855. 



324 LIFE OF CHABLES BOBENSON 

He held full command at the Pottawatomie massacre in. 
May, 1856. He was with, the expedition which captured 
Fort Saunders and at the attack at Fort Titus, — two of 
the Proslavery strongholds. He assisted in the capture of 
Captain Pate near Black Jack, and rendered other assist- 
ance at Osawatoinie. He was also with the expedition 
that went to Lecompton, and had a small force near Topeka, 
July 4th, 1856, when Col. Sumner dispersed the Free- 
State Legislature. He was at Lawrence at the threatened 
attack in September, 1856, but soon after left Kansas, and 
did not return until November, 1857. In September, 1857, 
he was in Tabor, Iowa, with arms and ammunition which 
Lane and Whitman were urging him to bring forward with 
all possible speed, but this he could not do for lack of funds. 
He was in the Territory only a few days in 1857, but re- 
turned again in January, 1858. In December of this year 
Brown made a raid into Missouri, destroying property and 
liberating slaves. It appears that there were two divisions 
of the men in this raid, Brown commanding one. The di- 
vision which he did not command, shot and killed a slave- 
owner. 

George A. Crawford saw Brown after this raid, and re- 
monstrated with him for such conduct. Crawford told 
him that Kansas was at peace with Missouri, and that 
Free-State men composed the Legislature and were making 
the laws. He pointed out to Brown that even in the dis- 
turbed counties of Linn and Bourbon the Free- State men 
were in the majority and had elected the officers, and that 
without peace no immigration would come from the ISTorth 
or the South. Soon after his Missouri raid, on December 
20th, 1858, Brown left Kansas, dropped from view for a 



CONTROVERSIES 325 

short time, and then made his attack on Harper's Ferry. 
While Brown was absent from Kansas in the intervals of 
1856-57-58, he was procuring arms and ammunition and 
maturing plans for his subsequent raid on Harper's Ferry. 

"No writer would attempt to detract from the mysterious 
power of John Brown, nor take from him his legitimate 
place in American history. He was bold, courageous, and 
even fearless in his attacks upon slavery, and he demon- 
strated that he would fight and die for what he believed 
to be right. Without doubt he hastened the final struggle 
between the jSTorth and the South, and by his Harper's 
Ferry attack became a national character. But the real 
points at issue are the extent of his services to the Free- 
State cause, and his real position in Kansas history. Some 
have held that his presence in the Territory was of vital 
importance to the Free- State movement, and that he was 
the real spirit of the Kansas struggle. Others have held 
that he was a detriment to the cause of freedom in Kansas, 
because his policy was directly opposite to the policy of 
the conservative element which finally won. A third group 
of writers are willing to concede a real service to Kansas, 
but hold that Brown's movements were of minor importance 
to the chief events which made Kansas a free State, and 
that his actions had a tendency to make war rather than to 
establish peace. 

The Free-State men were often in a quandary whether 
to take the field in open war or to follow a policy of non- 
resistance. In the summer of 1856, with the conservative 
leaders in prison or out of the Territory, and Lane and 
Brown left at large, both of whom believed in a policy of 
war, the battles of this season were inevitable. But, even 



LIFE OF CHARLES KQBINSCXST 

throughout the summer, the point that saved Kansas was 
the avoidance of open contact with the Federal authority. 
Had either the Lane or Brown policy been followed, an 
open rebellion would have occurred, which, although it 
might have plunged the nation into civil war, could not 
have established a free State in Kansas unless following 
the general results of a national strife. 

The attitude of the friends of James H. Lane in showing 
his great service to the State, and the injustice which Rob- 
inson had suffered at the hands of Lane while the latter was 
United States Senator, made Robinson ever ready to take 
up his pen and wield it unmercifully against all attempts 
to make Lane the hero of Kansas. It is well known that 
Lane frequently advised open war. He held that the in- 
vasion from Missouri creating the "bogus Legislature" 
and the Constitutional Convention, was, to use his own 
words, "an act of war, actual war." Hence he advised 
the destruction of the convention by force of arms. Rob- 
inson took occasion to show up Lane's military filibustering 
and political inconsistencies. In his Kansas Conflict " he 
makes of Lane a braggadocio, disturber, and a trimmer." 
Yet he recognized Lane's services in the Wakarusa War. 
Subsequently, Lane's vaulting ambitions and wild schemes 
caused much uneasiness to Robinson and other conservative 
Free- State men. 

Joel K. Goodin, as secretary of several conventions and 
of the Free-State Executive Committee, had much to do 
with the shaping of affairs in Kansas, and he well knew 
the movements from the beginning. Under date of Novem- 
ber 30th, 1881, he writes: "We in the country had to 
undergo many severe privations in running after Lane's 



CONTROVERSIES 327 

orders, messages and commands as self-imposed military 
dictator. . . . For years I could not agree with him, 
and was constantly in his way in the Executive Committee, 
thwarting his ridiculously impracticable, reckless and ex- 
travagant, and sometimes atrocious plans and suggestions." 
In his speeches and writings, and especially in " The Kan- 
sas Conflict," Robinson took occasion to point out what 
would have been the evil consequences from following 
Lane's erratic course. One can discover the undercurrent 
of bitterness mingled with grim humor in all of Robinson's 
criticism of Lane. Being without fear himself, and be- 
lieving Lane to be cowardly, he appeared to take delight 
in showing up Lane's frailties. Mindful, too, of Lane's 
political intrigues toward him, Robinson was unmerciful in 
his attacks upon these. He not only showed that Lane 
was not the man who saved Kansas, but that Lane detracted 
somewhat from the real Eree-State cause. 

After the intense and heated discussions which appeared 
early in the eighties, the historical horizon was cleared of 
controversy for a time, but a later renaissance of Lane and 
Brown since Robinson's death has brought the whole sub- 
ject once more to public view. One of the latest criticisms 
of Robinson was given by Col. T. "W. Higginson, in the 
Atlantic Monthly for May, 1897, under title of " Cheerful 
Yesterdays." He says : 

" I formed a very unfavorable impression of Governor Geary and 
a favorable one of Governor Robinson, and lived to modify both opin- 
ions. The former, though oscillating in Kansas, did himself great 
credit afterwards in the Civil War ; while the latter did himself very 
little credit in Kansas politics, whose bitter hostilities and narrow 
vindictiveness he was the first to foster. Jealousy of the influence 
of Brown, Lane and Montgomery led him in later years to be chiefly 



LIFE OF CHARLES EOBINSON" 

responsible for that curious myth concerning the Kansas conflict 
which has taken possession of many minds, and completely per- 
verted the history of the State written by Professor Spring, — a 
theory to the effect that there existed from the beginning, among 
the Free-State people, two well-defined parties, — the one wishing to 
carry its ends by war, the other by peace; as a matter of fact, there 
was no such division.'' 

It is fortunate that Col. Higginson used the word " im- 
pression" in the heading of this paragraph, as it would 
scarcely do for serious history. As the record of Geary in 
Kansas, as well as in California, in the Civil War, and 
in Pennsylvania, is marked by direct and straightforward 
conduct, Col. Higginson could not have been a very keen 
observer in regard to Geary's service when he speaks of 
his " oscillating in Kansas." As to his favorable impres- 
sions of Governor Robinson, he had an opportunity to 
judge of the character of the man, as he met him soon after 
Robinson was released from the prison at Lecompton, and 
he saw him subsequently in Boston and 'New York. It 
is not surprising that Col. Higginson formed a favorable 
opinion of Robinson at that time, for he was loved and 
respected by all who knew him, except his enemies, and 
even they had a wholesome respect for his manly course. 
It is evidently the John Brown controversy that caused 
Col. Higginson to change his impression. Robinson must 
have been too severe in his attack on Higginson's idol. It is 
certainly not historical to assert that Robinson was the first 
to foster " bitter hostilities and narrow vindictiveness." 

But there are other impressions of Mr. Higginson which 
seem to be erroneous. In 1879, soon after the Quarter- 
Centennial Celebration of Kansas, he said in a letter to the 
Boston Transcript that the crisis in the struggle between 



CONTROVERSIES 



320 



freedom and slavery for the possession of Kansas occurred 
in 1856, and that freedom owed its success to the leadership 
of Lane, Brown, and Montgomery. It is true that the mil- 
itary crisis did occur on the 14th of September, 1856, 
when twenty-seven hundred Proslavery men approached 
Lawrence for the purpose of destroying it : and the appear- 
ance of Geary with Federal troops saved the cause. Lane 
left the country on the 11th of September, going ]STorth and 
East, and not returning to Kansas until the spring of 1857. 
Montgomery did not figure in the Kansas conflict until 
after this, and his principal work was done long after Col. 
Higginson said the crisis was reached. In any event, there 
was no occasion for Governor Robinson to be jealous of 
him. Montgomery and Brown both continued fighting 
until after the conservative policy of the Free-State men 
had won the victory, and the Free-State men were obliged 
to beg them to desist. Further, Col. Higginson holds Rob- 
inson responsible for the " curious myth concerning the 
Kansas conflict,'' that there were two well-defined parties, 
" the one wishing to carry its ends by war, and the other by 
peace." Every one conversant with Kansas history knows 
that there were two distinct policies urged by the radical 
and conservative elements, respectively, of the Free-State 
party in Kansas ; and this is all that Governor Robinson 
ever maintained. There were different groups adhering 
more or less determinedly to each policy. Let any person 
follow the history of conventions, the actions of the Free- 
State men, the desires of some to make war on the Federal 
Government and to precipitate a rebellion, and the attempts 
of the conservative party to prevent it, and he will be easily 
convinced of the facts in the case. 



330 



LIFE OF CHARLES BOBINSOK 



The history of Kansas by Professor Spring is not a myth, 
nor does it deal in myths. There are some errors in it, 
mainly of point-of-view and proportion, but the writer was 
a careful scholar, who searched the records far and near 
for material, and endeavored to give an accurate account of 
affairs without fear or favor. Governor Robinson had 
nothing to do with its creation, except as he was a maker 
of history. " The Kansas Conflict," written by Governor 
Robinson, is not a myth any more than a modern battle- 
ship, bristling with guns and opening on the enemy, is a 
myth. It is wonderfully backed by the bulwarks of truth 
and historical fact. It may be a bit partisan in spirit, for 
it does not pretend to be a complete history of Kansas, but 
to deal with special phases of the conflict from Robinson's 
point of view. It must be admitted by all, that the book 
is sufficiently pungent and critical toward those who mis- 
represent or seek to distort history. The course of Lane 
in Congress, the revelations of Brown's course in Kansas, 
and the persistent course of certain writers who seemed to 
have obtained wrong impressions, were sufficient to arouse 
the antagonism of the War Governor of Kansas, who hated 
shams and grieved at the distortion of the truth. 

In 1884, thirty years after the struggle began and suffi- 
cient time having elapsed for the truth to become fixed, be- 
fore the publication of Spring's " Kansas " and before the 
publication of " The Kansas Conflict," Governor IT. P. 
Stanton, who was well acquainted with Kansas affairs, 
stated at the Old Settlers' Meeting at Bismarck Grove, as 
follows : 

" I was not in the counsels of the Free-State party, and knew their 
designs only through their public avowals. It is well understood, I 



CCXNTKOVEBSIES 



331 



believe, that they were divided in opinion. One party in the conven- 
tion, under the lead of J. H. Lane, was in favor of extreme and vio- 
lent measures, and proposed to put the Topeka Government into im- 
mediate operation; the other was understood to be headed by Gover- 
nor Charles Robinson, and to advise a more moderate line of policy, 
being so far willing to confide in our pledges as to try their strength 
at the polls in the October election. There was a bitter contest be- 
tween the two sections of the Free-State party, and according to our 
information there was imminent danger that the Lane party would 
prevail. 

" But at any rate, the counsels of the moderate men prevailed. 
The extremists were withheld from the execution of their dangerous 
designs, and the masses of the Free-State party were induced to 
participate in the October elections, and thus get control of the 
Territorial Government instead of embarking in a rebellion against 
the United States. 

" You placed Mr. Buchanan and his administration and all these 
Democrats who supported him in the wrong, and thus placing them in 
the wrong before the eyes of the whole world, you were enacted to 
defeat them and break them up." 

After a careful review of the whole controversy, a fair 
estimate of the situation would seem to be as follows: 
Brown sought the liberation of the slaves, and endeavored 
to use the Kansas trouble as a means of forwarding his 
plan of bringing about a conflict between the North and 
the South. Incidentally, he performed certain services in 
the struggle for freedom in Kansas, which must always be 
acknowledged. His policies were not adopted by the Free- 
State party. Lane's political ambition was the ruling pas- 
sion of life. In his attempt to satisfy it he also performed 
services in the struggle for freedom. His plans were fre- 
quently thwarted by the Free-State people. Eobinson was 
the original leader of the conservative group of Free- State 
people who wished to build up a free commonwealth by 
settlement and development of industries, voting, and non- 



332 LIFE OF CHARLES BOBINSON" 

resistance to Federal authority. The policy of the con- 
servative element won, hut this fact must not ignore the 
political services of Lane nor the independent warfare of 
Brown. While they differed in policy and plan from the 
conservative element of the party, still, at times, they 
strengthened the cause of freedom by enthusiasm or cour- 
age, and taught the Free-State people, by warlike methods, 
to resist invasion. But, in acknowledging the services of 
Brown and Lane, it must be maintained that it was the con- 
straint placed upon them by the conservative element 
which made their services valuable. The life of John 
Brown has been a favorite theme of his admirers, and has 
never failed to awaken an interest among the American 
people; but there is no American character about which 
there is such a diversity of opinion. By some he has been 
placed alongside of Jesus Christ, by others he has been por- 
trayed as a murderer, a liar, and a thief. Owing to the en- 
thusiasm of sentiment, his historical position has never 
been permanently established. It is safe to say that it 
will be found between the extreme views of his enthusiastic 
admirers and his detractors. 

However, progress is being made in historical judgment. 
In 1860 there was published " The Life of John Brown," 
by Redpath, which aroused considerable controversy. In 
1880 came the "Reminiscences of Old John Brown," by 
G-. W. Brown, M. D., a scathing criticism on his life and 
services. In 1885 Spring's " Kansas " aroused much con- 
troversy, and in the same year appeared " The Life and 
Letters of John Brown," by F. B. Sanborn, in which Brown 
appears at his best. Then, in 1892, was published " The 
Kansas Conflict," by Charles Robinson, which is a severe 



CONTROVERSIES 333 

criticism of Brown and his methods. This was followed 
by " John Brown and His Men," by Richard J. Hinton, 
in 1894. Subsequently both Rhodes and Burgess gave im- 
partial historical representations of Kansas history. But 
the most recent specific work on Brown is that of William 
E. Connellev, which occurred in 1900, and which, in many 
respects, is superior to the hero-worship of former days. 
But there are evidences that the final word has not yet been 
uttered, although it would seem that the subject had re- 
ceived undue attention at the hands of American writers. 
What is especially needed is the elimination of the per- 
sonal element of history and the abandonment of historical 
tradition. Also, a careful discrimination should be made 
between the feelings and sentiment of the people, and a 
careful measurement of historical facts. While Governor 
Robinson gave his version of certain affairs, a version which 
he deemed to be correct, and usually was found so, his con- 
tributions to history were limited to certain phases of the 
struggle. Xor did he ever pretend to write a complete 
history of Kansas ; but without his writings and his vigor- 
ous controversies it would have been exceedingly difficult to 
give a correct idea of the Kree-State cause and the attitude 
of the leaders of the Free- State party. The controversies 
carried on by himself and others have helped to form a true 
estimate of his life and character, and throughout it all his 
importance to Kansas History has been shown to be 
greater as historical truth becomes dominant. 



334 LIFE OF CKAELES EOBINSON 



CHAPTER XI. 

PEOMOTEB OF EDUCATION. 

De. Robinson was early identified with, the educational 
affairs of Kansas, and he never lost interest in them 
throughout his busy life. Like other patriots seeking to 
develop free government and a commonwealth composed 
of liberty-loving people, be recognized the necessity of edu- 
cation to the perpetuation of free institutions. He knew 
well that the foundations of tbe Republic are rendered se- 
cure only through individual life and character developed 
by means of liberal education. Moreover, he understood 
how essential were educational opportunities to attract sub- 
stantial families to a new community. He was not want- 
ing in foresight in building up a new community, and 
therefore he took every available opportunity to advance 
tbe cause of education. Rut wbat was still more to his 
credit as a fine specimen of manhood, he felt a keen interest 
in the lives and personal success of individuals, and espe- 
cially did he feel for those who needed help. Believing 
in tbe necessity of education, be was prepared to start a 
scbool at the earliest opportunity. 

It is not surprising, then, that tbe first scbool in Law- 
rence was in Dr. Robinson's back office in tbe Emigrant Aid 
Building, wbicb stood a little north of where now stands 
the Lawrence National Bank. It was begun January 16th, 
1855, by Edward P. Fitch, of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, 
less than six months after the arrival of tbe first group of 
emigrants from New England. There were about twenty 



PROMOTER OF EDUCATION 335 

pupils ; the teacher was paid by private subscriptions. la 
the spring of 1855 there accompanied Dr. Robinson from 
the East Miss Kate Kellogg, who came to teach the summer 
and autumn school. She began to teach on June 16th, in 
the same building, her salary being paid by Dr. Robinson. 
A third term in the Emigrant Aid Building was taught by 
Miss Lucy M. Wilder, who was teaching when the town 
was entered by border ruffians in 1856. Her school was 
scattered that day, but was soon reassembled when quiet 
was restored. In the summer of 1856 Miss Henrietta 
Ross, from Massachusetts, opened a school over Faxon's 
meat market. In the following year, on March 30th, the 
Quincy High School was opened in the Emigrant Aid 
Building, and on the second of April was moved to the 
basement of the Unitarian Church. This school was 
taught by C. L. Edwards, who conducted the public school 
in 1857-'58, assisted by Lucy M. Wilder, Sarah A. Brown, 
Lizzie Haskell, and in the primary by Miss Oakley. The 
fall term opened September 6th, and continued twelve 
weeks, the winter term being opened December 13th, with 
Miss Haskell and Miss H. M. Eelt in the High School. 

In September, 1863, after the Quantrell raid, which oc- 
curred August 21st, Misses Mary and Caroline Chapin 
came to Lawrence, and opened a school for girls in the fol- 
lowing winter. Dr. Robinson and George W. Deitzler paid 
the tuition of several pupils in this school. Mrs. S. T. D„ 
Robinson writes charmingly of the entrance of the Chapin 
sisters into Kansas : 

" Mr. Charles Chapin had a very pleasant home in Quindaro, and 
his sisters, Mary E. and Caroline E., came occasionally from Mil- 
waukee, where they had founded the Milwaukee Female College, to 
visit him. It had been in successful operation for seven years, when, 



336 LIFE OF CHAE1LES KOB1NSON 

tired of the fogs and damp of Milwaukee, they turned their thoughts 
toward the brighter skies and clearer airs of Kansas. 

" One day in October, 1863, when the hunter's moon was ap- 
proaching its full, Mr. Chapin and his sister Mary came up to see 
us and talk over the matter of their coming to Lawrence, and to learn 
whether the circumstances so soon after the Quantrell raid would 
favor the opening of a girls' school in Lawrence. General Deitzler 
and Governor Bobinson were enthusiastic over the matter, and fa- 
vored the enterprise with all their hearts. They were mindful also 
that money was needed for the success of the plan, and they each 
paid the tuition for several of the girls. Miss Chapin was delighted 
with Kansas, and in the brightness of those evenings in which she 
reveled she said, ' The Kansas moon is brighter than the Milwaukee 
sun/ In the early winter the Misses Chapin came and began the 
school. Miss Elizabeth E. Watson accompanied them." 

These were small beginnings in education, but great in 
their final results. Lawrence thus took the lead in educa- 
tional matters, and it was a fitting outcome of these early 
efforts that the University should finally be located at this 
place. While schools were established much earlier in 
Kansas in connection with missions, — probably the first 
one was at Wyandotte, in 1844, taught by J. M. Armstrong, 
— yet in the real movement that made Kansas a State, Law- 
rence took the lead in educational matters, and Dr. Robin- 
son appears as the first promoter of education in the Terri- 
tory. 

But Dr. Robinson was not contented with the establish- 
ment of private schools nor of ordinary public schools, — 
he desired a university. Slowly but surely each successive 
step in education led up to the university. The ambitions 
for a university were thoroughly supported by Amos A. 
Lawrence, who was instrumental in establishing a college 
at Lawrence. Dr. Robinson had the entire confidence of 
Mr. Lawrence, and also the confidence of the people of the 



PROMOTES OF EDUCATION 337 

town ; hence, he was a very prominent factor in the es- 
tablishment of the school. While Amos A. Lawrence was 
the treasurer of the Emigrant Aid Company, and desirous 
of the prosperity of the town bearing his name, the educa- 
tional project received from the very first the earnest sup- 
port and attention of Dr. Robinson. 

In 1856 Mr. Amos A. Lawrence requested Dr. Robinson 
to spend money for him in laying the foundation for a 
school building on the north part of Mt. Oread, which is 
now the site of North College. In explaining his plans to 
Rev. E. Nute, in a letter dated Dec. 16th, 1856, Mr. Law- 
rence says: a You shall have a college which shall be a 
school of learning and at the same time a monument to per- 
petuate the memory of those martyrs of liberty who fell 
during the recent struggles. Beneath, their dust shall rest. 
In it shall burn the light of liberty, which shall never be 
extinguished until it illumines the whole continent. It 
shall be called the ' Eree-State College,' and all the friends 
of freedom shall be invited to lend it a helping hand/' 

It is interesting to note that, in the movement of emi- 
grants westward over the Alleghany range into the Missis- 
sippi Valley, from the time of the foundation of the State 
of Ohio, the idea of a college was uppermost in their minds. 
Scarcely had the first smoke begun to curl upward from the 
chimneys of the rude cabins, or the first furrow of virgin 
soil been turned for the prospective crop, before they began 
to talk about schools. And while these schools might be of 
a meager nature, yet, from the beginning, the dreams and 
aspirations of the prominent men were always for a college 
or a university. The liberal land grants of the Eederal 
Government to the States on their admission into the 

—22 



338 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 



Union, for the foundation of public schools crowned with 
a university, made it possible for them to make early be- 
ginnings in the higher education. Those who were 
thoughtful for the welfare of the new town of Lawrence, 
and in fact for the new commonwealth of Kansas which 
was being built, earnestly advocated the establishment of 
schools. Mr. Lawrence, after whom the town was named, 
was a far-sighted, practical man, and he saw that in estab- 
lishing schools in the Territory of Kansas he would be lay- 
ing the foundation of a power for freedom greater than the 
force of arms. 

As a foundation of this Free-State college, Mr. Law- 
rence gave the sum of $10,000, which was in the form of 
two interest-bearing notes. This fund was to accumulate 
until it had become sufficiently large for the foundation of 
a school. On February 14th, 1857, Mr. Lawrence consti- 
tuted Charles Robinson and S. C. Pomeroy trustees of this 
fund, amounting then to $12,696.14, for the purpose of ad- 
vancing education and religion in the Territory. The 
following is a copy of the letter of trusteeship : 

Boston, February 14th, 1857. 
To Messrs. Charles Robinscn and $. G. Pomeroy, Trustees — 
Gentlemen: Inclosed with this are two notes of five thousand dol- 
lars each, of the Lawrence University, of Wisconsin, which, with the 
interest added, amount to eleven thousand six hundred and "/mo 
dollars as of to-day; also a certificate of stock in the New England 
Emigrant Aid Company ( par $2,000 ) , worth one thousand dollars or 
more at the present time; — in all, twelve thousand six hundred and 
ninety-six dollars and fourteen cents, which has been transferred 
to yourselves to be held by you in trust, and the income to be used for 
the advancement of the religious and intellectual education of the 
young in Kansas Territory. Until I shall give directions to the con- 
trary, I wish one-half of the income to be applied to the establish- 
ment of the best system of common schools, by organizing in every 



PROMOTER OF EDUCATION 339 

settlement those who shall be in favor of its adoption, as soon as 
the school funds shall be received from the United States Govern- 
ment; also, by giving aid to a school in Lawrence which shall serve 
as a model to others. The other half of the income to be used for the 
establishment of Sunday schools and furnishing them with the books 
of the Sunday School Union, of Philadelphia. In the event of my 
decease without giving any other directions than the above, I wish 
the fund to be used in the manner designated by me in a letter to 
Rev. E. Nute, Dec. 1st, 1856. 

The state of your laws prevents me from making a formal in- 
strument of trust at this time, and I have only to say that by accept- 
ing the office of trustees you will confer a favor on me, while you 
will be serving the interest of the Territory in which we have all 
taken so much interest, and for which you have endured and risked 
so much. I rely implicitly on your honor to retain the property in 
your safe-keeping, and to carry out the plan herein specified. In the 
event of your resignation of the office of trustee at any time, or your 
removal from the Territory, I wish for the privilege of appointing 
your successors. Hereafter, I may give my views more in detail. You 
can draw on the treasurer of the Lawrence (Wisconsin) University 
at any time for a year's interest, in any one year. I have refrained 
from drawing, because they have required all their funds for their 
new building. Eecently one building has been burnt, and on this 
account, as well as from a desire to prevent all embarrassment to 
the institution, I wish that the payment of the prineipal sum may 
not be urged, so long as the interest is received. If Kansas should 
not become a " Free State " as soon as admitted to the Union, I wis'h 
the property returned to me or my heirs. 

Your obedient servant, 

Amos A. Lawrence. 

It is thought by those who know of the confidential re- 
lations of Charles Robinson to his particular friend, Mr. 
Lawrence, that it was Dr. Robinson's suggestion and in- 
fluence which put it in the mind of Amos A. Lawrence to 
lay the foundation of a college. Possibly they were both 
inspired with the same thought, yet it is well understood 
that Amos A. Lawrence was greatly interested in the foun- 



340 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

dation of the State in the name of freedom. He was an 
antislavery man heart and soul, and he nsed his wide in- 
fluence to aid Kansas in her early struggles. In a memo- 
rial service held in his honor at Lawrence in 1886, Gov- 
ernor Robinson said of him : 

" Upon the 22d of last August, in a little town * in Massachusetts, 
ended a life full of benediction and goodness. Kansas has especial 
reason to mourn the loss of this great philanthropist. When slavery 
was threatening to encroach upon the virgin soil of Kansas, Eli 
Thayer sounded the alarm. Amos A. Lawrence was one of the first 
to enlist in the cause. As treasurer of the Emigrant Aid Association 
he contributed greatly to the financial needs, but still more was the 
moral weight which his name and well-known ability added to the 
side of freedom. He supplied the money with which to buy guns to 
bea'; back the proslavery army which was invading the soil of Kansas. 
In the agitation which spread over the North, Mr. Lawrence played 
a most important part. He stood in close relationship with President 
Pierce, and Amos A. Lawrence did more than any other man to 
secure the release of prisoners held for treason and to procure the 
order withdrawing the Missouri army from before Lawrence, thus not 
only saving this city, but also the other towns of Kansas. Mr. Law- 
rence gave ten thousand dollars endowment to a college at Lawrence. 
On account of this the State University was located here and Law- 
rence was made the pleasant and prosperous city it is. His name will 
be known and honored as one of the non-residents who took the most 
interest and did the most work for our State." 

Gov. Robinson might have added that when the congre- 
gation of Plymouth Church was weak and struggling, Mr. 
Lawrence gave one thousand dollars toward the erection 
of a suitable house of worship. 

In every effort toward the foundation of schools, no mat- 
ter who originated the movement, Governor Robinson was 
a prominent supporter. First an attempt was made by the 
Presbyterian Church of America to found a university at 

1 Brookline. 



PROMOTER OF EDUCATION 341 

Lawrence. The board of directors was formed for the 
organization of this college. Charles Robinson was among 
the number of trustees. Appropriate committees were 
named, and a plan was made for the erection of a building 
36x60 and two stories high. This was desired as a wing 
of the main building, the total to cost $50,000. A good 
deal of interest was manifested in this matter, and a bill 
was introduced into the Legislature in 1859, chartering 
the Lawrence University, with a board of trustees. Under 
this charter the board met January 22d, 1859, and pro- 
ceeded to the organization of a university. They elected 
officers, established chairs, chose professors, and also es- 
tablished a medical department. The trustees of the city 
of Lawrence offered a quitclaim deed to the trustees of the 
Lawrence University, on condition that a building should 
be erected at Lawrence one year from date, and that a school 
should be commenced six months from date. The trustees 
failing to comply with these conditions, the property would 
revert to the city of Lawrence. By a bit of shifting and 
advertising, the Quincy High School was made preparatory 
to this Lawrence University, and this preparatory school 
was opened in the basement of the Unitarian Church ; but, 
after continuing three months, it failed for lack of patron- 
age. 

About this time the Congregational Church of Kansas 
determined to establish a college in Kansas Territory. Ac- 
cordingly, steps were taken to found the Memorial College, 
at Lawrence, to commemorate the triumph of liberty over 
slavery in Kansas. Dr. Charles Robinson was a member 
of the board of trustees of this institution, and the trustees 
of the "Amos A. Lawrence fund," with the consent of the 



342 LIFE OF CHAELES ROBINSON 

giver, signified their willingness to make over this fund 
to the Memorial College, on condition that the Congrega- 
tional Chnrch shonld have control of the institution. The 
undertaking failed on account of the drouth of 1860 and 
hard times. In the mean time the Presbyterians had been 
pushing forward their work as rapidly as possible, but the 
hard times and other discouragements caused them at last 
to give it up. However, the people of Lawrence, being un- 
willing to see the plan of Lawrence College given up, or- 
ganized a new board of trustees, of which Charles Eobin- 
son was a member, and a new institution was chartered 
by the Territorial Legislature of 1861. This was under 
the auspices of the Episcopal Church. The new institution 
was called the Lawrence University of Kansas. The 
Presbyterians surrendered their university building to the 
Episcopalian University. But the Civil War came on and 
interfered with the work, and nothing more was done for 
several years. Subsequently, when the State University 
was founded, the claims of the Episcopal Church were 
given to it. 

At the time of the foundation of the various charitable 
and educational institutions of Kansas, each prominent 
town tried to secure the location of one or more institutions. 
Lawrence, on account of the part it had borne in the early 
struggle for freedom, the relation of Amos A. Lawrence to 
the town, and his gift to form a Eree- State college, had 
just claims to the University. By history, educational 
traditions, service and sufferings in the cause of freedom, 
the town was entitled to this distinction. A strong oppo- 
sition to this claim of Lawrence, however, was offered by 
the town of Manhattan. The citizens of Manhattan as- 



PROMOTER OF EDUCATION 343 

serted that the Methodists had already established there a 
school called Bluemont College, which could be used as a 
foundation for the University. A bill establishing the 
University at this place passed both houses of the Legisla- 
ture in 1861, but it was promptly vetoed by Governor Rob- 
inson. Subsequently the Agricultural College was located 
at Manhattan, and Lawrence lost her first rival for the cov- 
eted prize. But another rival, in Emporia, soon appeared, 
and in the Legislature of 1863 a bill was introduced, lo- 
cating the University at Emporia. The late Judge J. S. 
Emery, of Lawrence, finally moved to substitute the word 
" Lawrence " for " Emporia," and the bill passed to a vote 
which resulted in a tie. The presiding officer, Hon. Ed- 
ward Russell, of Doniphan county, decided in favor of 
Lawrence. The bill then passed the Senate, and became a 
law by the signature of Governor Carney, February 20th, 
1863. Thus was won, not without a struggle, the Univer- 
sity of Kansas to Lawrence, whose citizens began earnestly 
to fulfill the conditions of the law establishing it on a sure 
foundation. 1 

One of the provisions of the bill for the location of the 
University was that a site of forty acres should be donated 
by the town where it was located; and another provision 
was that an endowment be made of $15,000, $5,000 of 
which was to be deposited with the Treasurer of State 
within six months after the passage of the bill ; otherwise 
the provisions of the act should be null and void. At this 
point Charles Robinson came forward with a proposition 
to furnish the required forty acres from his land outside 
of the city, on condition that the Council would deed to 

J Lawe of 1863, p. 115. 



34:4: LIFE OF CHAKLES EOBINSON 

Mm half a block of land south of the school foundation 
on Mt. Oread. The proposition was accepted, and Robin- 
son secured to the State the transfer of what is now the 
University campus. Twenty-one acres of this land, lying 
south of the claim which Dr. Robinson had preempted, be- 
longed to Mrs. Robinson, she having purchased it from 
J. F. Morgan. For her share of this land Mrs. Robinson 
received $600 from the citizens of Lawrence. Subse- 
quently, Governor Robinson gave an additional ten acres 
of land to the University without qualifications. 

It was more difficult to secure the endowment of $15,000, 
as this was a large sum in those days of small beginnings. 
The "Amos A. Lawrence fund," hitherto mentioned, was 
turned over as an endowment to the new University, but, 
being in the form of notes, it was difficult to cash these se- 
curities without considerable delay. Although this amount 
could not be collected, the interest, amounting to $4,400, 
was available. Mr. Lawrence offered $10,000 cash for 
the two notes, and the remainder of the fund could be raised 
from a note of $600 held by Governor Robinson against 
the Congregational Church at Lawrence, this sum arising 
from interest on the fund. But not any of these funds 
except the $4,400, as mentioned above, were available in 
time to meet the requirements of the legislative act. At 
this juncture the citizens of Lawrence came forward and 
gave their note for $5,000, the required amount. Then 
came the Quantrell raid, on August 21st, in which the citi- 
zens of Lawrence lost their property, and this rendered the 
security of the note void. Governor Carney, of Leaven- 
worth, met the emergency by cashing the citizens' note. 
This made it possible to secure the deposit sufficient to 



PKOMOTEK OF EDUCATION" 345 

locate the University at Lawrence, which was formally done 
by the Governor on November 2d, 1863. 

As soon as the bill, locating the University at Lawrence, 
became a law, the Governor appointed a commission con- 
sisting of S. M. Thorpe, Josiah Miller, and I. T. Goodnow, 
to select a site and report to him on or before the 1st day 
of May, 1863. They performed their work to the satis- 
faction of all concerned, and gave in a report within the 
allotted time. In 1864 a bill was passed organizing the 
University, Charles Robinson being made a member of the 
board of trustees. 1 

The board of regents began the organization of the Uni- 
versity on March 21st, 1865, by electing Rev. R. W. 
Oliver as chancellor, and on motion of I. T. Goodnow it 
was decided to open a preparatory school. Steps were 
taken to complete the building begun by the Presbyterians, 
known as North College. There was much difficulty in 
collecting sufficient funds for this, but finally enough was 
obtained, from several sources. 1 The land on which this 
building stood, with the exception of two and three-fourths 
acres belonging to the city of Lawrence, came into the 
hands of the regents as a gift of the city. The remainder 
was secured by bond for deed to James H. Lane, who sub- 
sequently made a generous gift of the land to the Univer- 
sity. 

1 In the organization of the University, provided by the law of 1864, the members 
of the first Board of Regents were as follows : Charles Robinson, J. D. Liggett, E. J. 
Mitchell, Geo. A. Crawford, J. S. Emery, A. H. Horton, C. B. Lines, S. O. Thacher, 
Geo. A. Moore, John A. Steele, John H. Watson, and Samuel A. Kingman. But before 
the Board held its first meeting, on March 21st, 1865, the membership had been greatly 
changed, being composed of Robinson, Liggett, Emery, Thacher, Lines, as above, and 
E. M. Bartholomew, C. K. Holliday, G. W. Paddock, W. A. Starrett, D. P. Mitchell, J. S. 
"Weaver, with I. T. Goodnow, Superintendent of Public Instruction, and R. A. Barker, 
Secretary of State, ex officio members. 

2 It consisted of $600 on Congregational note ; $4,720 interest collected on Amos A. 
Lawrence notes ; $1,000 interest on endowment fund, Amos A. Lawrence notes ; St 
Louis relief fund, $9,500 ; Boston relief fund, $2,500 ; Carney relief fund, $1,000. 



346 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

It was not until July 19th, 1866, that the first faculty, 
consisting of Prof. D. H. Pobinson, E. J. Pice, and F. H. 
Snow, were elected. Professor D. H. Pobinson spent the 
remainder of his life in the service of the University, pass- 
ing away in 1896. Professor Snow has given thirty-four 
years of service, twenty-four as instructor and ten as chan- 
cellor. Prof. E. J. Pice resigned his position in 1867. 
It was through the influence of Governor Pobinson that 
Professor Snow was chosen for the place. Time has shown 
that in this he acted wisely, as Chancellor Snow has been 
of eminent service to the University and to the State as an 
educator, and especially as a scientist. From the opening 
of the first session, during which twenty-six young ladies 
and twenty-nine young men were enrolled, to the present 
time, Chancellor Snow has been a devoted servant of the 
University and woven his life into its very being. 

Prom this beginning of the University to the time of 
his death, Governor Pobinson, with the exception of a short 
interval, was a regent of the University. He watched over 
it from the beginning, through its early and later struggles 
and its steady growth. It has advanced from the humble 
position of a preparatory school with a few students and 
three instructors to a magnificent institution of 1,200 stu- 
dents and over seventy instructors, with schools of Arts, 
Law, Medicine, Engineering, Pharmacy, and Pine Arts, 
the pride and strength of the State. As regent, Governor 
Pobinson served on the building committee in the construc- 
tion of the first main building, Praser Hall ; and he occu- 
pied many other important places in relation to the build- 
ing of the University. 

In 1889, in recognition of his eminent services to the 




BUST OF ROBINSON, IN THE UNIVERSITY CHAPEL. 



PEOMOTEE OF EDUCATION 347 

University and the cause of education, as well as on account 
of his acknowledged ability in many directions, the board 
of regents conferred upon him the honorary degree of 
Doctor of Laws. This was an unusual act for the regents, 
as it was the first and last honorary degree of the kind ever 
issued. Governor Robinson was not a member of the board 
when it was granted. Another worthy tribute to Governor 
Robinson in recognition of his educational services was 
given by the Legislature of Kansas in 1895, when it passed 
an act to appropriate $1,000 for a bust of ex-Governor Rob- 
inson, to be placed in the University chapel. In accord- 
ance with this act, Governor John W. Leedy appointed 
Mrs. Sara T. D. Robinson, Hon. B. W. Woodward, and 
Charles Chadwick, Esq., members of the commission to se- 
lect an artist to execute the bust. They secured as artist 
Mr. Lorado Taft, whose work was accepted. At the un- 
veiling of this marble bust, which now stands at the left of 
the organ in the chapel, appropriate services were held, 
during which Hon. B. W. Woodward, representing the 
committee, Hon. Chas. F. Scott, representing the regents, 
and Governor John W. Leedy, representing the State, 
made appropriate speeches. Perhaps the address of 
Charles F. Scott was as true an estimate of Governor 
Robinson as ever escaped the lips of man. So clearly does 
it picture the principal phases of his life and character, 
that it is quoted to considerable length, as follows : 

" The story of the life of Charles Eobinson is so familiar here, 
where the greater part of that life was lived, that it need not be 
rehearsed. It is a heroic, almost romantic story. It is the story of a 
man, a man who took early a man's place in the world and held it 
staunchly and sturdily to the end. I trust I shall not be misunder- 
stood when I say it is the story of a fighter, a man so constituted 



348 LIFE OF CHABLES ROBINSON 

that he must take one side or the other of every question upon which 
men divided; and who, having chosen his ground, must maintain it 
earnestly and aggressively against every challenger. It is the story 
of a wise counselor, of one whose brain was always cool and clear, 
no matter what fires might be flashing from the blue eyes. 

" As nearly as any man I ever knew, Charles Robinson deserved 
the tribute which the Laureate paid to the Iron Duke when he said 
of him that he * stood foursquare to all the winds that blew.' He 
came as near standing by himself, balanced by his own judgment, re- 
quiring no strengthening support from other men either as indi- 
viduals or as aggregated into parties or churches or societies of any 
kind. At various times in his life he worked with various political 
parties, but when the particular object of the work was accomplished, 
he put the party aside, apparently with as little concern as he would 
lay down a tool that he was done with. The fear of being called incon- 
sistent never troubled him. In fact, no fear of any kind, either moral 
or physical, ever troubled him. He said what he thought ought to be 
said with as small regard to consequences as he did what he thought 
ought to be done. And if the words of to-day contradicted those of 
yesterday, that did not concern him, for the words of both yesterday 
and to-day were honest words. He did not know what policy meant, 
so far as the word might be applied to his own fortunes. He knew, 
doubtless, as well as everybody else knew, that he sacrificed all the 
political honors which a grateful and admiring people would have 
been proud to bestow, when he severed his connection with the domi- 
nant party. But the thought, if it occurred to him, never bade him a 
moment's pause. 

" Men of the ancestry and mold and temper of Charles Robinson 
do not have to hold public office in order to be a part of the public 
life of their community or commonwealth. More than thirty years 
before his death, Governor Robinson laid down the only executive 
office he ever held, and retired to his farm; but as a private citizen 
he was hardly less a factor in the affairs of the State than he had 
been as its chief executive. As a contributor to the newspapers and 
a frequent speaker at the hustings and on the platform, he con- 
tributed his share to the discussion of the questions that during all 
those thirty years made Kansas the most interesting spot on earth, 
writing and talking, not to gain some personal end, but because the 
convictions within him must have utterance." 

At the close of his eventful life Governor Robinson left 



PROMOTES OF EDUCATION 349 

the greater part of his fortune as a gift to the University, 
which he had nourished in its infancy, supported with 
vigor in its youth, and which he saw in his own declining 
years begin to assume the full stature of vigorous life. 
He had in mind a university for the people, and held that 
this was the only kind the State could support. During 
the latter years of his regency he grew impatient of the 
methods and policy of the University, and finally resigned, 
— partly because of ill-health, and partly because he felt 
out of harmony with the University methods. Perhaps 
he was thinking of the old style of college as a type rather 
than the modern university which has grown up in the last 
few years. He also seemed to feel that the University was 
growing away from the needs of the people, just as the two 
old parties had done, according to his views. He opposed 
the policy of his old-time friend, Chancellor Snow, much 
to the grief of the latter. It is a small matter, but the 
writer would not be true to the task did he not refer to 
some of the unpleasant phases of life as well as to those 
that are pleasing to relate. Whether his estrangement 
was caused by listening to poor advisers, or whether he 
had reached the age when " fear cometh " and confidence 
or faith in men or institutions fails, it is difficult to de- 
termine. But, once having made up his mind that the 
University was not fulfilling its mission to the great com- 
mon people, he was true to his life in opposing its policy. 
After a careful consideration of his attitude, gleaned from 
conversation with him and others, it appears to the writer 
that his judgment was not clear, as a large majority of the 
students of the University were from the farm, and fully 
one-half at the time were self-supporting. It was then as 



350 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 



now, a great democratic institution, representing people 
from nearly every walk of life, but most largely repre- 
senting the industrial classes. In addition to bis dissatis- 
faction, be bad a feeling that there was much work to be 
done that his declining health would not permit him to do, 
and be resigned, not without regret, his place on the board 
of regents. 

The criticism of the friends of the University would in 
any event fall lightly on one who had done so much for the 
University, and under the circumstances it is overwhelmed 
by the magnanimity of the man in leaving the greater part 
of his estate to the institution which was the cherished 
idol of his heart and a living monument of his great- 
mindedness. "No difference of opinion as to the adapta- 
tion of means to an end could stand between him and his 
great purpose. Some day, no doubt, there will rise on 
Mt. Oread a magnificent structure of stone and iron bear- 
ing the name of Robinson, a worthy tribute commemo- 
rating his life and his service to the State of Kansas, re- 
minding generations to come of the great part he took in 
the building of the commonwealth. For, holding in mind 
all of his services to Kansas in the establishment of a 
colony at Lawrence, in the struggle with the border ruffians, 
in the foundation of the Territorial Government, in the 
Constitutional struggle, in his position as the first Gov- 
ernor of the State, and in his subsequent life as Charles 
Robinson, citizen, one must say that the crowning work 
of his life, and that which will last the longest in the memo- 
ries of the members of a grateful republic, was the services 
to the cause of education. Here, on Mt. Oread, is built 
a monument to liberty and education, whose foundations 



PROMOTER OF EDUCATION 351 

were laid in the early struggles for freedom in Kansas, and 
whose superstructure will be built by future generations 
of loyal citizens of the State. This monument, though 
erected to the lives of many men, will also contain en- 
graved in prominent letters the name of Charles Rob- 
inson. 

An important educational work in which ex-Governor 
Robinson was engaged in his later years was the super- 
intendent of Haskell Institute, one of the prominent 
Indian schools of the Federal Government, located at Law- 
rence. This institution was founded by the United States 
Government, and its location at Lawrence was secured 
in part by the citizens of that city, but chiefly through 
the influence of Hon. Dudley Haskell, member of Congress 
from the Second District, after whom the Institute is 
named. When founded, in 1884, the Institute had but 
few students, and its property consisted of 280 acres of 
land on which were built three stone buildings, 122x62 
feet, used as a school-house, boys' dormitory and girls' 
dormitory, respectively. When he entered upon his new 
duties, Governor Robinson found that the school was in 
disrepute among those it was intended to help. The in- 
dustrial departments included a small cobbler's shop and 
a carpenter's shop, in addition to the farm department. 
The Indians of Kansas and the Territory were hostile to 
the management, and parents refused to send their chil- 
dren. For this reason the attendance was much below 
what it should be, and the pupils, knowing that they would 
be ridiculed when they returned home, and not having been 
taught in such a way that they could care for themselves, 
were disheartened and discouraged at the poor success of 
their attempts to live the lives of white men. 



352 LIFE OF CHAKLES EOBINSON 

At this time the question of Indian education and its 
results was attracting the attention of many of the fore- 
most educators of America. Though the institutions at 
Hampton and Carlisle had won considerable success in 
Indian education, it was jet to be determined whether 
after all, the kind of education they were getting would 
bring in actual life the real results which were claimed 
for it; and therefore the problem of Indian education 
was worthy the attention of any man. When Charles 
Eobinson accepted the position offered him by Secretary 
Lamar, he did so with several express objects in view. 
His first aim was to make Haskell Institute an industrial 
school in every sense of the term, believing that an indus- 
trial education was the one best fitted for making useful 
citizens of the young Indians. With the change of man- 
agement in Haskell Institute, new life was put into the 
institution. The school now increased its popularity 
with the Indians, and doubled its attendance. Through 
Robinson's influence new buildings were added for school 
purposes, — dormitories, shops, and warehouses. All de- 
partments of industrial training were instituted, includ- 
ing departments for wagon-making, shoemaking, tailoring, 
carpentering, printiug, dressmaking, and a laundry and 
bakery. At this time, also, 210 acres of land were added 
to the property, about half of the entire farm now being 
fenced. Governor Robinson also turned his attention 
toward making the place more pleasant for the young In- 
dians. The buildings constructed under his directions 
were erected with careful regard to the relationship of the 
buildings one with the other, and large lawns were laid 
out, sodded and filled with shade trees grown on Robinson's 



PROMOTEK OF EDUCATION 353 

own farm. But, after Dr. Robinson had for several years 
conducted this institution so satisfactorily to all interested, 
he was at length compelled to resign his trust, owing to 
declining health. 

It is interesting to note that his plan of emphasizing 
industrial education at Haskell was the one that has been 
advocated and practiced with great success by his success- 
ors. He also advocated the division of the Indian reser- 
vations into small farms, so that each Indian could be 
given a piece of land to till, and thus practice an independ- 
ent life. It is to be remembered that this idea came out 
prominently in the Indian severalty bill, known as the 
Dawes Bill, which subsequently passed Congress and be- 
came a law. The work of breaking up the tribes, tribal 
relations, and the reservations, and of making common 
citizens out of the Indians, is the Indian problem now be- 
fore the American people. In order to solve this prob- 
lem, education of a practical nature is essential, and there- 
fore Governor Robinson and other superintendents of Has- 
kell have urged instruction in the agricultural and indus- 
trial arts. The efforts of the present superintendent of 
Haskell to enlarge the work in industrial education is well 
known in Kansas, and indeed throughout the United 
States. 1 

Thus we find that Dr. Bobinson was identified with 
nearly every early educational movement in Lawrence, 
from the time of its foundation till the time of his death. 

1 Haskell Institute has grown into a flourishing school of over 600 pupils. Its line 
of progress has been that suggested by Governor Robinson, namely, industrial educa- 
tion. It has been the saving of Indian education. 

—23 



354 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON" 



In the memorial services held at the University in honor 
and memory of Governor Robinson, Dr. Cordley said: 

" In every movement toward a college made in Lawrence, Governor 
Kobinson was a prominent actor. There were three efforts before 
the State University was suggested. He was active in every one of 
them. Whether the movement was by the Presbyterians or the Con* 
gregationalists or Episcopalians, he could always be depended upon to 
cooperate. Though he belonged to neither of these bodies, he co- 
operated with each of these in turn, willing to join with any body of 
men who aimed to build a worthy college. He was a member of 
every one of these boards of trustees, and an active sympathizer with 
their plans. When the State University was proposed and the other 
plans all merged in this, it was in full accord with his ideas, and he 
joined in the effort with great earnestness. He offered to turn over to 
the State the funds of which he was the custodian, and also to add still 
larger donations of his own. The beautiful site on which these build- 
ings stand was his gift to the State. If the State was as wise as 
he was liberal, she would lose no time in securing the entire circle 
of the hill, and thus come in possession of the most magnificent site 
of any university in these United States of America. She would thus 
literally round out the noble gift of the first Governor of our State, 
and do a deed for which all the future would call her blessed. It 
would be an act whose significance would be more marked with every 
year that passed. 

" Governor Robinson's interest in the University was not con- 
fined, however, to gifts of money or land. He gave it also time and 
thought. He was always ready to give it his personal service when- 
ever that service was called for. He was a member of the first 
board of regents, and I am not able to say how many terms after- 
that he was his own successor. In his capacity as regent he was un- 
tiring in his attention. He was not only present at meetings of the 
board, but would spend time and money and travel in aid of the 
institution. When the first faculty was chosen he proposed the name 
and secured the election of a young man in Massachusetts as Pro- 
fessor of Natural Science. Then he used his best arts of persuasion 
to induce that young man to accept the position offered him. That 
young man came and entered upon his work, and did it so well that 
he distinguished himself and the institution with which he was con- 
nected. So, among the contributions of Governor Robinson to Kansas 



PROMOTES OF EDUCATION 355 

University may be properly included her honored Chancellor, Frank 
H. Snow. 

" While the name of Governor Robinson is written upon the early 
history of this State in letters that can never be effaced, because 
they penetrate to the very substance itself, his thought and life are 
also wrought into this University in the way that is most enduring, 
because they are a part of the very foundation and structure. His 
name is linked with the very first thought of a college in Lawrence, 
and can be traced down the whole history of its development. He 
seemed to be following the plain logic of events, when he made this 
institution the final heir of the estate he left behind him. He showed 
in his last act where his heart all along had been. He wished his 
last gift to go where his chief interest had been. He seemed to real- 
ize that this was his best monument, and only followed the instinct 
of his life when he crowned it with his last benefaction." 

Many instances might be given where his unostenta- 
tious giving has aided public enterprises, like the city 
library, or individuals struggling for an education. His 
public life was but an echo of his private practice in push- 
ing forward all interests which make for the advancement 
of the individual or society. But here as elsewhere, he 
must be the judge as to the helpfulness of the cause : if in 
his judgment it was useless, he held it to be his right to 
repudiate it. 

While supporting every educational cause of the State, 
his whole life was an object lesson of freedom, of liberty, 
of earnest conviction, of help to those who needed help, 
of strength to the strong and of support to the weak. And 
such a life, full of work and earnestness of purpose, pre- 
sented to each succeeding generation as they study how 
the great commonwealth of Kansas was built by the united 
action of scores of brave men and willing hands, will show 
what a single life may accomplish in the great work of 
state-building. 



356 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 



CHAPTER XII. 

CHARACTER. 

In concluding this memorial, it is perhaps fitting to add 
a few words respecting the character of Governor Robin- 
son, setting forth views gathered from his actual service to 
humanity, and gleaned from the opinions of those who 
knew him best. As one who belongs to another generation 
from those who endured the hardships of the early struggle 
for freedom in Kansas, I approach the life of one who 
was an actor in these stirring scenes, with becoming rev- 
erence. It is, at most, but a small tribute that this gen- 
eration can pay to a preceding, but that tribute is best 
made by reverence and honor to those who fought the early 
battles, who endured the early struggles, that we of this 
day might enjoy the blessings resulting from such sturdy 
warfare, and might thus have weapons with which to fight 
successfully the battles of truth in our own day and gen- 
eration. 

In a general estimate of the life of Governor Robinson 
there must first be recorded the evidence of a strong indi- 
vidual character, a bold, hardy spirit, able to give and take 
blows for what he deemed the right. In consequence of 
this strong individuality he was misunderstood by both 
his friends and his enemies. This quality made it diffi- 
cult for him to follow with zeal any party or creed. It 
was sufficient for him to ask his own consciousness what 
was right in any matter, and to act accordingly. Parties 
might change or hold to old doctrines, — Robinson fol- 



CHABACTER 357 

lowed the iron course of conviction. If lie hurt the party 
or made enemies, it was small matter to him. What was 
right, what was justice in the case, were his cr iter ions 
for action. Possibly he could have made life easier for 
himself, possibly there were times when he could have 
accomplished more by being more flexible and more politic, 
but he would not have been true to his convictions, and 
they were law to him. 

The estimate which his friends and his enemies united 
in passing upon his character ought to be a fair estimate 
of its real worth and meaning. Governor Robinson never 
had a large personal following. He is not a subject of 
hero-worship at all. Men of his stamp never are, because 
it is impossible. It is only the person who has a strongly 
partisan nature, who has qualities of bold leadership, and 
who possesses a desire to march at the head of the column, 
— it is only such a person that brings about him a crowd 
of admirers who would follow him, right or wrong, to the 
death. The man with the cool, calculating judgment, who 
will change his policy according to conditions because the 
right thing to-day may not be the right thing to-morrow, 
may have many admirers, but he will have few worship- 
pers. Such a course implies a bit of austerity which for 
the right's sake or for the truth's sake would strike down 
alike friend or foe. Such was the character of Charles 
Robinson, and while there are no blind worshippers of his 
life or his character, there are thousands of admirers and 
strong friends who acknowledge the value of his services 
to the community. 

Among the leaders of the border ruffians of the Pro- 
slavery days were those who always acknowledged Robin- 



358 



LIFE OF CHABXES BOBJNSON 



son as the leader of the opposition. The testimony of Eli 
Thayer and Amos A. Lawrence, presented elsewhere in 
this volume, gives him credit for being the same clear- 
headed leader of affairs. Joel K. Goodin said, after 

Bobin son's death : 

" No better representative of constancy to every material interest 
of the State and his city has either had than in the person, the 
life, the watchings and activities of Charles Robinson. No truer or 
braver man has breathed its pure air, been its more earnest cham- 
pion or a greater benefactor to the extent of his abilities. His hand 
and heart were ever open to the demands of philanthropy and the 
objects of meritorious charity. He lived outside of the narrow 
limits of party or sectarian prejudice in both politics and religion. 
The universal fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man, was a 
faith that took faster hold upon him inspiring to action than any 
of the tenets, religious or political, of the day. He shirked no duty, 
evaded no responsibility, but intelligently met and battled for every- 
thing Avhich he believed to be right. His convictions were to him 
laws, commands to active exertion, and his courage never failed 
him. Hence he was no time-server, apologist of wrong in high or 
low places, but frank to a fault, cost what it may. He was constant 
in his friendships, upright in his dealings, hospitable under all 
circumstances, and his integrity was sterling. He was a leader 
of leaders, safe in counsel, and foremost in executive ability." 

In paying his tribute to the life of Kobinson, Eev. Kich- 
ard Cordley, time-honored citizen and beloved pastor of 
Lawrence, referring to the early struggle in Kansas, said : 

" The man whose steady counsel more than anything else ac- 
complished this result, was Governor Robinson. When history 
comes to measure events by their importance, she will put the name 
of Charles Robinson high in the scales of diplomatic generalship. 
Whether any other policy would have made Kansas free, no man can 
tell. But the policy that did accomplish that result was suggested 
by Governor Robinson, and matured and interpreted and applied by 
him during the two turbulent years when the question was at issue. 



CHARACTER 



359 



He will always, therefore, be a marked figure in the history of 
Kansas." 

In this same line of thought, a writer, correspondent of 

an Eastern paper at the time of the early struggle, and re- 
ferring to the Free-State convention held in 1855, said: 

" The president of the convention was Governor Charles Robin- 
son. From the first he had been considered the leader of the Free- 
State movement, and was looked to for counsel in every difficult 
emergency. He was always cool and clear-headed in the midst of 
danger, and no emergency disheartened him. He was a man of fine 
presence and large experience. In the popular sense of the word he 
was not eloquent, but he had a way of talking to a crowd in such a 
plain, straightforward manner that few men carried conviction more 
readily than he. He was usually conservative, preferring to gain his 
end by management rather than by force. It was largely due to the 
moderate counsel of such a man as he that there was no more vio- 
lence and bloodshed during those critical times. He was a good pre- 
siding officer, and in the stormiest debate he Avas never bewildered." 

But more remarkable than the testimony of friends 
is a recent testimony of a man on the other side of the 
conflict. A remarkable tribute of his old enemy, General 
Jo. O. Shelby, given soon after the death of Governor 
Robinson, is especially worthy of notice here. Referring 
to an incident of the Wakarusa War, Shelby said: 

" I saw Governor Eobinson occasionally after that. We fought 
him, but he was as lovable a man as there ever was in this section 
of the country. He tried to prevent the war, but he always stood 
for the Union when it came to a show-doAvn. He opposed radical 
men like Lane almost as much as he did the hot-headed fellows on 
our side. We knew what he was doing, and he never mistreated a 
Southern man who came into his hands. He Avas a man whom I 
shall always remember with admiration." 

In recent years some have tried to show that the posi- 
tion that Robinson assumed in the early struggles was 



360 



LIFE OF CHARLES EOBINSON 



not of great importance in making Kansas a free State; 
that there were none who were for radical destructive war 
in opposition to Robinson's conservatism. But there are 
many witnesses that testify to the real situation, — wit- 
nesses who could have no other motive than to tell the 
truth. I. T. Goodnow, writing under date of June 1st, 
1891, said: 

" Without Eli Thayer the emigrants would not have come, and 
without Charles Eobinson it would have been in vain that they did 
come. Cool, clear-headed and brave, he could see the end from the 
beginning, and the sure way to reach it. While others were all excite- 
ment, he was perfectly self-possessed and knew the right thing to do, 
and did it. To his mind two things were perfectly clear : First, there 
was to be no resistance of the United States Government; secondly, 
the Territorial laws made by a bogus Legislature were to be ignored. 
To carry out these principles required clear heads, and many times a 
passive resistance worthy of the early martyrs. His great idea was 
in every case so to manage that the Proslavery men should be in the 
wrong and the Free-State men in the right. The first must be the 
aggressor, and the second the passive sufferer, or act only in self- 
defense. In this way alone he could secure the united sympathy and 
support of the North." 

This fully explains Governor Robinson's non-resistance 
policy. It was to be patient until the proper time, and 
then attack the right party in self-defense. This would 
account for his services in sending men with his indorse- 
ment to secure Sharps rifles for the use of the Free-State 
men. Valuable, indeed, did they prove in time of danger. 

In support of this same view of Robinson and his ser- 
vices to the Free-State cause is the testimony of Joel K. 
Goodin, who was so prominent in the Free-State movement 
as secretary of conventions. Writing under date of 1892, 
he said: 

" The policy outlined and adhered to ab initio of the conservative 



CHARACTER 301 

element of early Kansas, to steer clear from conflict with the General 
Government and at the same time fail to recognize the ' bogus laws ' 
formulated by foreign invaders and political nondescripts, seemed 
so hard to be understood by the masses, and so little heeded by the 
hot-headed among us, that we were many times confronted with 
imminent danger of losing the prize sought for, as well as hopes 
entertained of building up in this center of the Union a State 
devoted to freedom, progressiveness, and a grander civilization 
than those we had left behind." 

It was during these perilous times in which the path 
between success and failure was so narrow and difficult 
that a single misstep would have changed the result and 
for the time being lost Kansas to freedom. It was not a 
time for rashness and bravado to succeed, but rather for 
firmness, adroitness, and coolness of counsel. Colonel 
S. F. Tappan, who was an active man throughout the 
early struggle and saw clearly the dangers faced by the 
Free-State men, because he faced them and knew them 
himself, wrote about these times for the Denver Tribune, 
under date of September 9th, 1883. Among other things 
he said, referring to Robinson: 

" Having referred to the early history of Kansas, the long pro- 
tracted struggle of its people to consecrate its soil to freedom, 
efforts at last rewarded by the admission of Kansas into the Federal 
Union as a free State, it seems appropriate to make a brief refer- 
ence to the man who more than any other, — in fact, more than all 
others, — by being patient as well as heroic, patient under the most 
adverse and trying circumstances, patient when persecuted, patient 
when victorious, patient in council, patient in battle, and, more 
than all, patient in prison, so shaped and directed the policy of the 
Free-State men as to bring about the most desired object, the free- 
dom of Kansas." 

It was for this patience that Robinson has been cen- 
sured by. his critics. They think he should have been 



362 



LIFE OF CHAKXES EOBINSON 



"more of a fighter," and by actual revolution struck a 
Mow for freedom. But not one dare say that his failure 
to do this was on account of fear. Then why did he not 
become more aggressive against the Proslavery people? 
Simply because he saw that to do so would bring the hordes 
of invaders upon an almost defenseless community, and be- 
cause the Proslavery people had the support of the Federal 
Government. Under such circumstances an open fight 
would have brought certain ruin to the Free- State cause. 
All that could be reasonably done was patiently to act 
upon the defensive in arms and the aggressive in mental 
action. To repudiate the bogus laws by evading and de- 
nouncing them was a far different affair from fighting the 
Federal troops and defying the Federal Government. 

As to leadership in this great movement, there were 
several prominent men who took part in different phases 
of the struggle that might, without exaggeration, be called 
" leaders." But in considering the whole movement, the 
testimony of Amos A. Lawrence in a letter addressed to 
C. W. Smith, secretary of the Old Settlers' Association, 
written on August 16th, 1877, is worthy of consideration. 
He said: 

" Then there was Charles Robinson, whom you chose your leader 
and Governor. He was to you in that day what Moses was to the 
Israelites. When the action of the Government was adverse to your 
interests, when Reeder and Geary were removed, when Atchison, ' the 
acting Vice-President,' left his seat in the Senate to lead the border 
ruffians, and to drive you out with lire and sword, it was Robinson 
more than any other man who held the people firm in their allegiance 
to the United States. Then he had to fight not only the enemy, but 
his friends. Any other man, with less sound judgment, and forbear- 
ance, and courage, would have led you wrong. He was the repre- 
sentative of law and order, and so, under Providence, the public 
sentiment of the country was kept in your favor." 



CHARACTER 363 

But it may be said that these are the testimonials of his 
friends. Even so ; hut they were men whose testimony is 
not to he impeached. They had no favors to seek, no mo- 
tives to lead them into false statements. They were, more- 
over, men of excellent judgment, who knew from actual 
experiences the facts in the case. It is true, they did 
deprecate the peculiar warfare of Lane and the fierce ag- 
gressiveness of Brown, for they thought both of these 
leaders wrong in their attitude. But, going still further 
hack into the annals of the Territory, we find the testi- 
mony of two strangers who visited Lawrence when the 
battle was on. 

Mr. G. Douglas Brewerton, a correspondent of the ~New 
York Herald,, visited Kansas twice, and gained some in- 
sight into affairs here. Writing in 1856, he has among 
other things the following to say about Robinson : 

" In Kansas politics, General Robinson was a member of the 
State Constitutional Convention, is chairman of the Free-State 
Executive Committee, and in addition to this, holds the military 
rank of Major-General and Commander-in-Chief of the Kansas 
Volunteers, as the Free-State army of Kansas style themselves. He 
may be regarded as the real head — the thinking one, we mean — 
and mainspring of the Free-State party; or, to speak more correctly, 
of all that party who are worth anything. We believe him to be a 
keen, shrewd, far-seeing man, who would permit nothing to stand 
in the way of the end which he desired to gain. He is, moreover, 
cool and determined, and appears to be endowed with immense firm- 
ness; we should call him a conservative man now; but conservative 
rather from policy than from principle. He seems to have strong 
common-sense and a good ordinary brain, but no brilliancy of 
talent. In fact, to sum General Robinson up in a single sentence, 
we consider him the most dangerous enemy which the Proslavery 
party have to encounter in Kansas." 

It would appear from this that the newspaper reporter 



364 LIFE OF CHARLES EOBINSOK" 

understood the character of G-overnor Robinson quite well, 
save for what he has to say regarding the " ordinary 
brain" and the lack of "brilliancy of talent," which do 
not seem to agree with the statements in the remainder 
of his paragraph. 

The last quotation that will be given to show the posi- 
tion Robinson occupied in the early struggle, is that of 
Mrs. Hannah A. Ropes. She visited the Territory in 
1855, and was at Lawrence during the Wakarusa War. It 
was soon after the murder of Barber, and the excitement 
caused by bringing the body to Lawrence, that Mrs. Ropes 
wrote the following : 

" The windows are open ; General Robinson is preparing the 
somewhat restless body of soldiery, occupying the ground in front 
of the hotel, for the reception of Governor Shannon. He points to 
the moving cavalcade in the distance and says : ' It is in the hope 
of a speedy settlement, without more bloodshed, that this interview 
is proposed.' It is not palatable to these men; for there is but a 
wall between them and their sleeping, murdered comrade. But they 
honor General Robinson, and he curbs their justly indignant blood 
by the power of his own magnanimity.*' 

After the settlement, arrangements were made for a 
"peace gathering" to celebrate the "bloodless victory," of 
the Wakarusa War. Mrs. Ropes first describes the as- 
sembling of the guests, and then says: 

" General Robinson, too, was showing them the attention they de- 
served at his hand as invited guests. The General looked pale and 
more disturbed than I thought possible for one of such remarkable 
self-control and courage. It seemed that some of the hotel crowd 
were not ready to give up the war spirit, and accept with grace the 
peace-offering of social intercourse offered by our great-hearted 
General to those who had arrayed themselves so cruelly against us." 

Then she describes the action of Sheriff Jones and 



CHAKACTEE 365 

Colonel Lane in keeping up the agitation of the crowd 

while there was an attempt on the part of Robinson and 

others to bring about a peaceful settlement of affairs. 

She continues: 

" Colonel Lane's voice could be heard in different rooms, detail- 
ing to eager listeners the most painful circumstances of poor Bar- 
ber's death, and, with wonderful ingeniousness, keeping up the 
wicked spirit of vengeance among those over whom he exercised 
any power. What on earth he was driving at by such a course, 
it seemed to my stupid self quite impossible to understand; while, 
at the same time, I knew very well that he aimed at something he 
could not otherwise attain so well. Any reader of human faces can 
never study his without a sensation very much like that with which 
one stands at the edge of a slimy, sedgy, uncertain morass. . . . 
General Robinson stood like an aggrieved king. He not only stemmed 
the tide, but rallied back the surging emotions of the crowd; and 
the meeting closed much more like a gathering of peace than at one 
time seemed likely. I should like very much to have you see General 
Robinson. He is honest in expression, simple and unaffected in 
manner, and brave as a lion. I have somewhere seen a fine engraving 
of John Knox, standing with uplifted finger and solemn, earnest 
rebuke in his countenance, in the presence of Queen Mary. The 
head, profile, and general outline of the figure are very much that 
of Governor Robinson." 

Those who knew Robinson best speak of a sort of inner 
life which was not usually known to the public. A man 
who had known him during the entire period of his career 
in Kansas, Mr. W. H. T. Wakefield, said : 

" To know Charles Robinson was to love him. He was one of 
nature's noblemen, his mind and character, like his magnificent 
frame, being cast in a giant mold of the finest metal. He was a 
strong, clear-headed, true-hearted, and generous man, utterly un- 
selfish, and guided by the noblest impulses of humanity. Few men 
have ever lived so much for others, and self so little. His great 
abilities and tireless energy have been given largely to the public 
and to those in need of assistance, and never to his own selfish 
enjoyment or gratification." 



366 



LIFE OF CHARLES RQBOTSQM 



Indeed, it might be said that his habit of thought for 
those who needed assistance led him always to take sides 
with the weak against the strong. A friend who had 
known him said that he had formed such a habit of tak- 
ing sides with the weak in a struggle that he had grown 
to believe they were always in the right. While the world 
is never overwhelmed with charity and love for the down- 
trodden and the oppressed, it is true that people fre- 
quently err in supposing that "the under dog" is neces- 
sarily in the right. It is contrary to the laws of human 
selection and the survival of the fittest in social life, to 
suppose that the weak is necessarily correct and that the 
strong is wrong in the fight. Either may be wrong — the 
one from abuse of power, the other from inherent weak- 
ness. However, there are comparatively few who err in 
wrong assumptions respecting the oppressed. 

Those who knew Robinson's inner life best know well 
of the services of Mrs. Robinson. " Of the noble woman 
who so heroically shared his trials, privations, conflicts 
and victories, and who survives him for a brief period, 
nothing but good can be said. She was the presiding 
genius of the household of the grand and devoted husband. 
Hospitality was always the rule, and the kindliest sympa- 
thy of true hearts was ever extended, within the reach of 
their home and influence. 7 ' 

The writer understands from those who knew Governor 
Robinson best, that he dealt justly with all men in his pri- 
vate business relations, and that in the home he was an 
excellent and exemplary husband. As a neighbor he was 
helpful and sympathetic, and many are ready to assure us 
of his kindness to them in the time of need. The Robin- 



CHARACTER 367 

son home was always given to hospitality to all who chose 
to accept of it. It was not blessed with children, but many 
children felt the kindly sympathy of Governor Robinson 
and his wife. The spacious grounds of " Oakridge " have 
often rung with the echoes of their joyous laughter. 

That Governor Eobinson believed in a wise Creator and 
a beneficent Father of all, no one who knew him well 
could doubt. That he did not join any church is not to 
be wondered at; for neither would he join any medical 
society, but practiced what he had found to be of advan- 
tage. If he found it difficult to adhere to a political party 
because of the non-progressive attitude of political tradi- 
tions and beliefs, how could one expect him to join a church 
with a positive creed and binding rules of action? His 
early struggle with the creed of his own church seemed to 
settle that question for him as it did for Thomas Carlyle 
after his wrestle with Scotch Presbyterianism. So it 
seems that while Governor Robinson believed in the help- 
fulness of churches, he preferred to have the utmost free- 
dom in religious beliefs and practice, and hence refrained 
from subscribing himself a member of any church after 
his name was left on the rolls of the old New England 
church, as described in a former chapter. 

Robinson had a kindly heart and nature. He was ever 
ready and willing to help the needy, and very many owe 
their preservation or advancement to his helping hand, 
He had a heartfelt sympathy for all who were oppressed, 
and was easily aroused to fight at once against the op- 
pressors. He had a religion all his own, which was of a 
pure nature, of a practical sort. He believed little in the 
saving power of creeds, ceremonies, churches, or ministers. 



368 



LIFE OF CHABLES EOBINSON 



But he believed in a Creator and Father who answered the 
call from the depths of his nature, as a soul crying out 
for strength in its loneliness. If he did not vigorously 
support the outward forms of Christianity, he practiced 
its best principles in standing for truth, justice, and right 
living. There is hardly a church building in Lawrence 
to which he did not contribute money or material. He be- 
lieved there was good in all — especially good for some 
people. 

As indicated in the first chapter of this book, Robinson 
had, in his boyhood, something of humor in his genial 
nature. Those who were best acquainted with him in 
later life often discovered a rich vein of humor in his 
rather austere nature. The ludicrous side of danger ap- 
pealed to him, as is commonly the case with those who 
have complete mastery over fear. It is related that when 
Dr. Eobinson with Mrs. Robinson was going East to arouse 
the governors and influential people in the North in the 
interest of the Tree-State cause in Kansas, the captain of 
the steamboat on the Missouri river came to him as the 
boat approached Lexington and warned him that a band 
of border ruffians would board the boat at the next landing 
with the intention of killing him. " You are joking," said 
Robinson to the captain ; " why would they kill me % " 
While the captain could not give a satisfactory reason for 
the attempt on his life, he made it plain to Robinson that 
it was not a joke, and offered to find a hiding-place for 
him. But Dr. Robinson declined, saying, " I don't know 
as I care. I ? m rather curious to know what there is after 
this life." With a keen sense of the ludicrous, he showed 
interest in the vagaries and follies of men, and was in- 



CHAEACTEE 369 

clined at times to be too severe in his witticisms in taking 
them off. There is evidence of positive enjoyment in his 
description of the ludicrous duel at the time of the Topeka 
Convention between Lane and Lowry, — a duel that never 
came off. The contrast between Lane's braggadocio and 
his abject fear was not a little amusing to a man who knew 
not fear. " The grim chieftain/' shaking with fear under- 
neath a pretense of bravery, was a cause of enjoyment to 
others besides Robinson in the convention. 1 

Lane's straw men at the " battle " of Fort Saunders was 
another instance that called forth expressions of humor 
bordering on ridicule from the Governor. 2 

While in the prison-camp in Lecompton he unintention- 
ally made an enemy of a man, by good-natured ridicule. 
His wit was frequently too incisive for the comfort of 
those toward whom it was directed. In reality it appeared 
much more severe than it was intended to be. Indeed, it 
is difficult to see how a man who had such a kindly heart 
and was so much interested in his fellow-men, always 
ready to help them in time of distress, could have inten- 
tionally caused pain by his shafts of wit. If he ever did 
so, it was sometimes because of a keen and irrepressible 
sense of humor due to the absence of fear on his part, 
under circumstances that aroused it in most people. 

His strong individualism at times seemed to overpower 
his native generous consideration of the feelings of others. 
For, upon the whole, the serious side of life impressed 
him profoundly with its importance and earnestness, and 
he frequently wore in his countenance and manner an 

1 See chapter V. 

s There really was no battle. The enemy had fled before the " straw " men arrived. 

—24 



370 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 



austerity which covered the kindly intentions of 'his 
heart. 

His views and actions on the temperance question afford 
a very good illustration of his general attitude toward 
troublesome questions. From his earliest life Robinson 
was a strong temperance man. He believed in temperance, 
not as any part of his religious faith, nor because he held 
it to be a sin in itself to partake of strong drink, but 
because he believed that the inordinate use of such drink 
was destructive of body and mind, and led to poverty, vice, 
and crime. But as an ideal he held that temperance is a 
greater virtue than total abstinence; for the man who of 
his own volition is temperate in life, has reached a higher 
stage of development than the man who is forced by law 
to refrain from harmful practices. It is the same with 
society. A community that acts rightly in its own normal 
life, and not because of restriction and repression im- 
posed by rules, is of a much higher order than the weak 
community which must be hedged around with barriers to 
keep it in a normal line of action. To him intemperance 
was a deep-seated evil, extending to all departments and 
practices of life. Hence, any mere rule of action attempt- 
ing to control the personal social habits of man was worse 
than useless. He opposed the prohibitory law in Kansas 
because he believed it to be a sham and a pretense at vir- 
tue, and he disliked and opposed all shams. He appears 
to have opposed it also because he thought it inconsistent 
with personal freedom, or liberty of action. It is easy to 
see how this phase of the question appealed to him, for he 
loved freedom; he was himself able to stand upright, in- 
dependently and alone, on what he termed " the right " ; 



CHARACTER 371 

lience lie could not see the virtue of a law that attempted 

to remove temptation from the weak and caused the in- 
dulgers in strong drink to become sneaks and reprobates in 
evading a law which they thought unjust and unworthy of 
their obedience. 

He thus expressed his opposition to the prohibitory 
amendment of 1881: "My opposition is for the reason 
that I believe its adoption would be the greatest calamity 
that could befall our State, and a blow against temper- 
ance that we could not recover from in long years/' Using 
this as a basis of argument, he entered the newspapers, 
combatting all comers who favored the prohibitory amend- 
ment, for the sole purpose of defending what he thought 
was the right. His opponents said: " Whatever may be 
the specious arguments advanced to support his opposition, 
from a temperance standpoint the fact will remain that 
every blow he strikes against the temperance cause is one 
in favor of whisky, drunkenness, gambling, and the whole 
list of crimes born and bred in the saloons/' It was in 
this way that many of the prohibitory folk frequently at- 
tempted to classify persons differing in opinion from them- 
selves as persons who favored saloons. There were such 
narrowness and bigotry evinced among radical prohibition- 
ists. They could not tolerate opinions on temperance differ- 
ent from their own, and sought to put every one who op- 
posed them in an unfair light. By their unreason and in- 
tolerance they have done the temperance cause much harm 
in the State. For there are broad-minded Christian men 
who believe that other methods of dealing with the temper- 
ance question would be better than the prohibition of the 
manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors. Some of the 



372 



LIFE OF CHARXES BOBINSON 



most ardent workers for temperance and the enforcement 
of the law pause again and again, questioning the possi- 
bility of a successful issue of prohibition in Kansas, hop- 
ing that some better way for meeting social evils may be 
devised, yet still struggling on, though somewhat blindly, 
in their righteous attempts to enforce the law. 

Governor Robinson, aroused by false representation and 
stung as by a nettle with the intolerant jibes of opponents, 
set himself squarely against the amendment. In the po- 
litical controversy that followed he used his pen with the 
vigor usual to him when engaged in debate. 

But the amendment was passed, and laws under it for 
the carrying out of the will of the people. This was but 
the beginning of the trouble, however, for each succeeding 
year brought increasing difficulties in its enforcement. 
While the writer may not agree in the attitude of Governor 
Robinson on the question, he is compelled to confess that the 
Governor's warnings regarding the future operation of the 
law were in some degree prophetic. What will be the final 
outcome, no one at present can determine. While there is 
probably an overwhelming majority in favor of retaining 
the prohibitory law for fear of getting nothing better 
should it be repealed, if for no other reason, yet its most 
ardent supporters cannot pretend to be satisfied with its 
operation in Kansas. While it would be out of place to 
enter into a full discussion of this question, — one of the 
greatest that Kansas has ever undertaken to dispose of, — 
it may be safely said that the present enforcement of the 
law is unsatisfactory to nearly every one; and while the 
idea of prohibition has many warm supporters in Kansas, 
there are others, not interested in the liquor business, who 



CHARACTER 373 

believe it to be a curse to the State. However, the liquor 
question gives trouble of one kind or another, no matter 
under what law, and a change from the prohibitory law to 
some other would not insure any improvement, and it 
might prove worse. 

What Governor Robinson did in the controversy on this 
subject was with the purest motives, and the wish to aid in 
securing for the State the best and most effective law for 
the suppression of drunkenness and the vice and crime that 
spring out of it. Whether we could have a better law for 
the times it is difficult to say, although the present will 
receive a thorough trial, and will not be given up by its 
advocates until it is proved a failure or until some better 
law is substituted for it. Governor Robinson believed 
that only such laws should be created as could be executed 
and enforced. He knew that no prohibition law had ever 
been successfully enforced, wherever tried in the United 
States; therefore, for this and other reasons, he was op- 
posed to it. He believed in local option. In this way in 
some communities it would be possible to have entire pro- 
hibition, while in others, less favored, restrictive measures 
could be adopted much more serviceable to such com muni- 
ties than a prohibitory law: measures, for example, pro- 
viding a severe penalty for selling to minors or habitual 
drunkards, for selling on election days, Sundays, and 
national holidays; and, in fact, just such restrictions as 
the community is able to enforce. Because a man advo- 
cates such a rational course, is there any reason why those 
opposing him should assert that he is working with the 
liquor-dealers and for the saloons % No automatic process 
has yet been discovered for the suppression of the liquor 



374 



LIFE OF CHASL.ES ROBINSON 



traffic. Local option has succeeded In some parts of some 
States, and this is all that can he said of prohibition so 
far as tried. 

But Governor Robinson was not perfect, nor did he ever 
pretend to be without faults. He had faults which he 
knew and deplored, and which his best friends knew and 
deplored. He was a strong individualist, of a nature that 
might almost be called turbulent had it not been so largely 
under the control of a strong will. He was willing to as- 
sume responsibility and submit to the consequences. A 
favorite motto was, " Suffer and grow strong." Nor did 
he fear to stand alone in the pursuit of a course which his 
best judgment directed him to follow. In the general 
acceptation of the word, he was not a partisan. He never 
submitted his private convictions of right and wrong to the 
exigencies of party success. While in a large sense he 
was an excessively social man, working always for the 
good of humanity and seeking for it the highest social 
well-being, he found it difficult to bind himself to any 
clique or set, or to strike hands with his fellows to stand 
by any proposition or party. He preferred to meet is- 
sues as they came, and to depend on his own best judgment 
to do the right thing. He was especially interested in the 
so-called " common people." He early formed the habit 
that has already been referred to in this chapter — that 
of taking the part of the oppressed ; and so strong did this 
habit become that he always assumed if a man was down 
his cause was just. His best friends frequently felt that 
his individualism was too strong for their comfort. One 
of his admiring friends said to him one day, " Why don't 
you behave yourself, and let us love you, for we want to ? " 



CHARACTER 



375 



Governor Robinson responded with a quiet laugh, and 
that was all. This was in the latter days, when he had be- 
come estranged from the Republican party. Perhaps his 
leaving the Republican party after it had given him offices 
of trust was the worst grievance the friends of Governor 
Robinson had against him. Yet, when we consider his 
nature, we must see that it was the most natural thing 
in the world for him to do. He believed in " money for 
the people/' and in Government measures for the relief 
of the people. He felt that the Government had been legis- 
lating too much in favor of the rich and too little in favor 
of the poor. While we cannot agree v/ith all of his social, 
economic and political theories, we may admit that he was 
right in his fundamental principles. He had a wide sym- 
pathy with the laboring classes, and a strong fellow-feeling 
for the farmers when they suffered so much from over- 
borrowing, short crops, and falling prices. He left the 
Republican party and became a Democrat. He never ad- 
mitted that he was a Populist, but the time came when the 
two parties were peculiarly mixed in Kansas, and the 
terms were then almost synonymous. His theory was, 
that if a party would not do what the individual thought 
was right, he should drop it and take up with one which, 
in his judgment, came nearer doing this. 

It is not intended to say here that Robinson was never 
diplomatic or a partisan, for this would be entirely erro- 
neous and misleading. Although strongly individualistic 
in nature and independent in thought and action, he was 
ever ready to serve others by diplomacy and policy. Nor 
did he fail to manage his personal affairs with adroitness 
and skill. But what is unquestionably true is, that once 



376 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 



having decided upon a given course of action he could not 
be changed through fear of personal consequences ; and he 
would not, with the hope of personal gain, "stand in " with 
a clique or party in conflict with his opinions of what 
Was right or expedient. But to stand for a course of ac- 
tion which he deemed right and just, and to use policy, 
skill and diplomacy in achieving its success, was what he 
loved and did do ; but this is something far different from 
striking hands with his fellows in order to save his own 
neck or in any way advance his own interests. 

As we reflect upon the stirring times in which Governor 
Robinson lived, on his struggle with ill-health and grief 
in Massachusetts, on his adventures in California, and 
the great struggle in Kansas; as we consider what of 
treachery and calumny, misrepresentation and malignity 
he had to endure from his enemies, we may consider it 
remarkable that his life moved along so evenly in the 
later years, and that his character retained its equipoise. 
The momentum of his life-struggle for the right carried 
him on to the end, fighting for the cause of truth and 
freedom. 

His old friend, Chancellor Snow, paid him a just and 
beautiful tribute without fulsome praise when he said: 

" The life which has just ended has been one men may wisely 
study and imitate. True, our friend had his faults and made his 
mistakes. True, he lived in times which brought forth qualities 
and traits of character worthy the attention and imitation of all. 
The State has lost a true citizen. The University has been de- 
prived of its oldest, firmest and best friend. All Kansas mourns 
the death of a father." 

Governor Robinson was not only generous in support of 
any good cause, but was personally helpful to individuals. 



CHARACTER 377 

No deserving person ever went to him in distress without 
receiving aid. Eo worthy public enterprise was passed 
by. His giving was quiet, and hence came from the heart. 
Indeed, so quiet was it that only those who knew him inti- 
mately have an idea of its extent. At one time, when the 
library of Lawrence was to receive a present from the son 
of Amos A. Lawrence, and knowing that the city had 
asked much of the man, Governor Robinson sent Mr. Law- 
rence a check for fifty dollars, to be used in purchasing 
books to be presented to the library in Mr. Lawrence's 
name. Thus did he help to relieve the son of his old 
friend from too great a burden and the solicitors of the 
city from an embarrassing position. 

Believing that every man should have a chance for his 
life and prosperity in the industrial struggle, he gave 
quiet personal aid to many who afterwards lived and pros- 
pered to call him blessed. After his death many letters 
came to Mrs. Robinson testifying of personal services 
received and affection returned. Said one: "While I 
was struggling to educate my family I rode with the Gov- 
ernor from Leavenworth, and, as I left the cars at Tonga- 
noxie, he handed me a small roll and said, i That may 
help to educate your children.' I thanked him, and when 
I unrolled the greenbacks to my surprise I found fifty 
dollars." Another relates how on his first arrival in Law- 
rence, almost penniless, he received assistance from Dr. 
Robinson, and frequently afterwards received help. A 
workman on a public building was once heard to say: 
" When a man went over to the Governor's place he was 
treated as a gentleman and given a nice room and a good 



378 



LIFE OF CHABXES BOBINSON 



bed in the house, and was not put off in a shed with, an 
old hard bed to lie on, the way some folks treat their 
men." 

So it appears that he lived true to his convictions in 
private as well as public life. With a sympathetic social 
nature, he won the confidence and esteem of all the Free- 
State men and the admiration of many of his enemies for 
his manly vigor. He loved his country and mankind, and 
put his energies continually to the test in actual service 
to both. He was a persistent foe of error; a strong ad- 
vocate of truth ; a fearless fighter in every cause which he 
espoused, and a tireless worker for humanity. He was 
not a sounder of trumpets, but a builder of states and in- 
stitutions. His work was lasting in its effects, and his his- 
torical record is clear and substantial. As there passes 
away hero after hero of those who stood shoulder to shoul- 
der in the great struggle for freedom and in the build- 
ing of the commonwealth of Kansas, leaving the blessings 
and the burdens of civilization to be borne by others, 
the men of these later times are enabled to realize more 
and more clearly that the advantages of previous struggles 
are now all their own. They can look back with thankful- 
ness of heart upon the lives of those who wrought and suf- 
fered that future generations might have the blessings 
of liberty, peace and prosperity. As they ponder with be- 
coming reverence upon the long list of Kansas heroes, they 
will find none greater than Charles Robinson, the patriot 
and statesman, the citizen and man. 

On Friday, August 17th, 1894, at the age of 76 years, 
at 3 :15 a. m., just as the dawn of a new day was approach- 



C EAP.A C TEE 379 

ing, Governor Robinson passed into the unknown. He met 
death as bravely and calmly as if it were an ordinary event 
of life. He bad often fearlessly faced it before, but now 
it came, bringing the welcome end of a well-spent life. 

Xo citizen of Kansas has passed away amid more ardent 
expressions of affectionate regret than Charles Eobinson. 
The whole State knew him and felt its loss. On Sunday, 
August 19th. four ex-Governors of the State, and other 
prominent men and officials from various points, came to 
join with neighbors and friends in paying their last tribute 
of respect to him who. so powerful in life, now lay helpless 
in death. The funeral sermon was preached by Dr. C. G. 
Howland. a venerable and lovable man. since passed to his 
rest, who closed his discourse with these graphic words : 

u Much of Governor Robinson's life was tempestuous, 
but the close was as gentle as the fading light of day. With 
a tender yet speechless touch of a dear hand, and without 
the slightest concern, he went out ' to meet what the future 
hath of marvel or surprise.' n 

u Fallen at length, the Nestor of our time. 
Founder and savior of our infant State. 
The lofty life to Freedom dedicate. — 
The champion ever mailed to challenge crime.. 
And make the people's rustic cause sublime. 
Peer of the commonwealth he did create, 
His strength hath known no weakness, no abate, 
Fi-oni this strange stillness back to youth's rich prime. 
And is he fallen? Nay: a wiser thought 
Follows the spirit as it slow withdrew. 
Leaving the fields on which he grandly fought. 
The writhing wrongs his prowess overthrew. 
And lo! amidst the zenith stars inwrought. 
We speed the newest orbed. Hail, and adieu.'-' 

Bettby M. GEZE5T. 



APPENDIX A. 



NOTES. 



NOTES. 

Note (a). — Subsequently Rev. W. B. Stone became Gov. Robin- 
son's brother-in-law. He was brother to Lucy Stone, the woman 
who spent her life and all her thought for the enfranchisement of 
woman. Colleges in New England were not yet open to women, but 
Oberlin College in Ohio was founded in 1833, in which instruction 
was offered equally to men and women. Here, all who would seek 
knowledge should find it. Full of zeal, Lucy Stone and Sarah Pellet, 
of North Brookfield, Massachusetts, went to Oberlin; the latter car- 
rying her kit of material wherewith she could mend or make shoes 
for the other students, and so add to her scanty means, while Lucy 
Stone set and cleared off tables for the daily meals. The spirit of 
New England girls and boys was full of aspiration, and they de- 
sired above all things wise instruction and cleanliness of heart and 
life. 

Note ( 6 ) . — Academies and seminaries were great blessings to 
New-England youth in those days. They made Amherst, Harvard, 
Williams and Dartmouth possible to thousands of young men. 
Hadley was settled in about 1669, and her academy founded in 1687. 
Among other academies there might be mentioned the academy of 
South Byfield, for boys, incorporated in 1761. The first woman's 
academy was Adams, at Derry, New Hampshire, founded in 1823; 
and the academy at Ipswich, Massachusetts, in 1828. There were 
academies at Deerfield, Massachusetts; and at New Salem and a 
few other places. Children and youths who desired to be edu- 
cated in all branches of study were compelled to attend private 
schools and academies. 

Jonathan Robinson sent three of his girls to Mount Holyoke 
Seminary as soon as that institution was opened. In 1790, Boston 
girls were allowed to attend the public schools in the summer for 
two hours in the afternoon, provided the seats were left vacant by 
boys. In 1788 the town of Northampton voted that none of the 
public money be expended for the schooling of girls. Indeed, girls 
were not recognized by the school laws, for we read that " the word 
children " be interpreted to mean boys. It had been a dark age for 

(383) 



384 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 



women, even in good old Massachusetts; but light was breaking. 
Among the Berkshire mountains, over one hundred years ago, Feb- 
ruary 28, 1797, a little girl, Mary Lyon, was born, who possessed 
a craving for knowledge; the same grand assimilating power of in- 
tellect which sometimes falls to the lot of brothers in the race, and 
the same keen instinct into truth, marked her mental and moral char- 
acter. She was self-reliant, and she learned self-control. She had 
little regard for trifles; they meant nothing to her. She always saw 
the humorous side of life, and whatever was set for her to learn she 
devoured with eagerness and made her own. Miss Lyon wished to 
found an institution which should be wholly devoted to the higher 
education of women, and she concentrated all her energies on this 
work. Belchertown was thought of, on account of its singular 
beauty of situation, as the location of the school, but the choice fell 
upon South Hadley. Two of the teachers of the Classical school, 
and the head of its largest boarding-house, were wanted to go with 
Miss Lyon. Miss Mary Whitman and Miss Moore and " Pa " Hawks 
were transferred to Mount Holyoke Seminary, South Hadley, as 
soon as the school opened there. In gathering funds for the new 
enterprise, Miss Lyon was untiring. The weather never in the least 
interfered with her excursions into the towns about, to lay her plans 
before the people personally, and ask for substantial aid. She took 
whatever was offered with exceeding thankfulness; no gift was de- 
spised. Even a contribution of six cents was received with gratitude, 
and the largest gift of $1,000 only served to inspire her to more 
heroic efforts. Sometimes a heavy summer shower, with lightnings 
flashing and thunders pealing and reverberating among all the 
hills, (for Belchertown, according to Pres. Timothy Dwight, of 
Yale College, "was famous for its Anti-Masonry and being struck 
by lightning,") and one would see Miss Lyon, seated on the bottom 
of an open wagon with her outer garments drawn closely about 
her, driving as fast as she could, with ten miles yet to pass between 
Belchertown and South Hadley, before the darkness of the night 
should envelop her. She roused the enthusiasm of the people, and 
the women who desired knowledge saw the shackles falling from 
them. Miss Lyon was not discouraged by the taunts of men, some- 
what educated to be sure, but not advanced enough to realize how 
their own uplifting would come — must come — by every advance 
made by their sisters. Father Robinson was among those who felt 
the stirring soul-awakening of Miss Lyon's enthusiastic work, and 



APPENDIX 385 

when the school opened in 1837, his three surviving daughters — 
cne had died — entered as students, and made such proficiency in 
their studies that they subsequently all became teachers and taught 
successfully for many years. 

Thus, one can see readily how the spirit of studious thought was 
aroused in the youth Charles Robinson. We might mention one 
incident in connection with a visit he made to his sisters. Miss 
Lyon always seated her guest at her table, and she always invited 
him to " ask the blessing " upon the meal. In the simplicity of his 
heart the young man very reverently asked for the Divine blessing. 
It required courage to do so in the presence of a bevy of young 
women, — or it would to a less modest man. But his courage in 
youth was evinced in other ways. For instance, when he made his 
first attempt at swimming. There was no water deep enough near 
his home to tempt him to try his powers, but at Hadley there was 
the broad and beautiful Connecticut river, one-fourth of a mile 
wide. At the first trial he swam to the Northampton side of the 
river, a boat containing two or three of his school-mates going 
along to take him in, in case of weakness or untoward accident. 
Again, in later years, while a student in Dr. Gridley's office, he went 
with him to assist in cutting off an arm of Miss Smith, daughter 
of Col. Smith, with whom he had boarded while at school at Hadley, 
Dr. Cutter and Dr. Linnell accompanying, while he courageously as- 
sisted in the operation. His diffidence did not permit him to speak 
to the family with whom he had had a pleasant home, but Col. 
Smith thought he knew him, and said, " Is not this our Charles 
Robinson?" and it pleased him to be remembered. The clinical 
experience students of medicine now get in hospitals, they received 
quite as surely by going with their instructors to the bedsides of 
the sick, and sometimes without them. 

Note (c). — Relchertown was situated upon a long plateau, ten 
miles from the Connecticut river. There was the Mount Holyoke 
range of mountains upon the northwest, with the mountain house 
plainly to be seen in clear weather; the Wilbraham mountains on 
the south, and a high range of hills four miles to the northeast, 
from which the view is thought to equal that of Mount Holyoke. It 
has been much visited by New-Yorkers and other people, who have 
made of the town a summer resort for many years. The ascent of 
the long hills from the beautiful valley of the north, where the 
—25 



386 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 



ponds lie, was two miles from the principal hotel, directly south. 
Very seldom did Mr. Lawrence, whose eldest daughter subsequently 
became the wife of Charles Robinson, drive down into it, every fort- 
night on his way to court at Northampton, without saying with 
renewed enthusiasm, " This must look like the valley of Jordan." 
It was on the great stage route between Boston and Albany, and 
the hotel was the half-way house, the finest on the whole route. 
The large stone slab, marked " Eighty miles from Boston," still 
stands at the turn of the fence. 

Its large and substantial houses on the broad and well-shadea 
common, on most of the streets where the branches of the elms 
form an archway over them, as well as in most of the school dis- 
tricts (there being fourteen), with their beautiful gardens and 
dooryards, make of Belchertown a delightful town. It is in Hamp- 
shire county, often spoken of as the model county of the State. 
It was so near to Amherst, the president and professors of the 
college often came to preach on Sunday, and some of them to in- 
terest themselves in the public examinations of the Classical school, 
and not so far from Williamstown as to prevent Dr. Mark Hopkins 
from sometimes giving the people the benefit of his erudite learning. 
The corps of six instructors in the school were graduates from Am- 
herst, Williams, and Yale. The one hundred and fifty scholars were 
from all portions of the town and adjacent towns. They went out 
from the school thoroughly equipped for their work, and are widely 
scattered in their chosen fields throughout the whole country, and 
some of them are beyond the seas. 

The stage left Northampton for Boston at 1 A. m., and when it 
reached the Belchertown hills the elders would alight to lighten the 
load, and walk up the hills. A little daughter of Judge Lyman 
of Northampton, did not awaken until the sunrise, — and such a 
sunrise! Having vague ideas of the pearly gates and the golden 
streets of the New Jerusalem, looking off beyond the Belchertown 
hills upon the intermingling colors,*— - jasper, sapphire, and chal- 
cedony; emerald and chrysolite; topaz, jacinth, and amethyst in that 
glorious horizon, — she said, "Are we going to heaven?" 

Some interest may attach to the following extracts from a letter 
received by Mrs. Robinson in November (1893) before the Governor's 
death. It was written by an early school friend, resident then at 
Belchertown : 

"Accepting the position of organist in Dr. Beman's church about 



APPENDIX 387 

1846, I continued as director of tlie music for nearly forty-five years, 
commencing with a volunteer choir of forty singers, and closing with 
a quartet of single voices, which were paid $1,200 and $1,000 per 
annum. Having given the salient points of an uneventful life, which 
I hope you may not think in the repeating I have too much of 
egotism, I cannot refrain from a word in retrospect. Your letter 
brought to mind so much of the past, and so vividly, that the scenes 
of long ago seem more near and dear than anything transpiring 
at present. 

" Hanging up in my omce, with pictures of my father and family, 
is the lithograph of Qakridge, sent me some time since. And often 
has the thought of the gentle maiden who gave me my first French 
lessons, and who has since passed through the thrilling scenes that 
made ' Bleeding Kansas ' the prelude to the terrible war, come to 
me, contrasting the late life of excitement and danger with the al- 
most pastoral quiet of those days at Belchertown; and there comes 
an awe such as when one looks on a picture of Jeanne d'Arc before 
and after her inspiration. When in a mood of reverie, I recall the 
fact that our mothers were intimate scnoolmates in Belchertown; 
that my mother first caught a glimpse of my fatiier there, and 
saucily dashed the mop around his heels when she with others was 
cleaning the school-room for examination, while he was visiting the 
principal, an old friend of his; where I ftrst heard and saw your 
father, who was ever to me the peer of all men intellectually; where 
Mr. Pearl taught dancing under the pious fraud of ' calisthenics ' ; 
where the churches fought one another instead of the devil, and 
Bro. Oviatt tried to pour oil on the Avaters; where the boys and 
girls found friendships that endured; where the daily stage to and 
from Amherst and Palmer with Father Clapp as superintendent 
was the great event of the day; where such views of Mt. Holyoke 
and valleys stretching in all directions made one feel that Belcher- 
town was the very center of the earth, a city set upon a hill, a very 
Jerusalem where the tribes go up to worship. 

"All this and more comes to my mind, until that time and not the 
present seems vividly real. You will pardon the garrulity of an old 
man, and believe the old friends seem and are better than new ones. 

" With kind regards, 

Q T> Q 

" Troy, N. Y., Nov. 16, '93." 

Note (d). — Myron Lawrence was born in Middlebury, Vermont, 
May 8th, 1799. In 1820 he graduated from the college in his native 
town, sharing the highest honors of his class with Stephen Olin, 
who afterwards became Dr. Olin of Wesleyan University, at Middle- 
town, Connecticut. In their school duties they had been wont to 
help each other. In all calculations of eclipses Mr. Lawrence had 
made the calculations, while Mr. Olin perfected the drawings. Be- 



388 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 



fore lie reached his majority, by the advice of Judge Doolittle of 
Middlebury he had gone to Belchertown, Massachusetts, to study law 
with his brother, Hon. Mark Doolittle, a graduate of Yale College. 
He became also a member of his family, remaining such until his 
marriage March 28th, 1824. 

There came the happy day to the citizens of Massachusetts, when 
the granite hills of its western county, Berkshire, were tunneled 
for the passage of the Boston & Albany Railroad, at great labor and 
great cost. Mr. Lawrence, as one of the directors, worked untiringly 
for the accomplishment of the work. There would no longer remain 
the necessity of taking the stage at four o'clock in the bitter cold 
of a January morning, to travel by the highways, were they open, and 
over the stone walls when the snows were deepest and hardest, if, 
by so doing, the distance of eighty miles to Boston could be made 
less. Such a winter was that of 1840. Its cold and snows were un- 
precedented. There were many upsettings of the coaches that winter 
on the Leicester and Spencer hills, and much merriment as the legis- 
lators were trying to be on time at the opening of the General 
Court [the Legislature], 

When twenty-seven years of age, Mr. Lawrence represented his 
town in the Legislature. He served several years as Senator and 
several as President of the Senate. At his home the distinguished 
people of the times visited him. Among the most noted, Daniel 
Webster, Miss Harriet Martineau, Stephen Olin, Robert Rantoul, 
George Ashmun and W. B. Calhoun never passed him by. 

Louis Kossuth, the great Hungarian, had been struggling to free 
his fatherland from the chains of despotism. In 1850, Mr. Law- 
rence presided at the immense meeting in Faneuil Hall, which wel- 
comed him to Boston. In that little down-trodden country of Hun- 
gary the spirit of liberty was awakened, and the clear tones of 
Kossuth's voice and the magic of his unmistakable genius had aroused 
an unusual enthusiasm in the heart of New England, and all through 
her hills and valleys the fires of liberty were lighted anew. It was 
worth much to see and hear such a man, so wholly inspired and 
devoted to his cause. 

In 1850, Mr. Lawrence delivered the semi-centennial address at 
the commencement at Middlebury, while Stephen A. Douglas, na- 
tive of Brandon, Vermont, gave the address of the evening. It was 
said that the impromptu address of Mr. Lawrence to the alumni 
was one of the happiest efforts of his life. He became a trustee of 



APPENDIX 389 

the college in 1851. and worked without ceasing the last winter of 
his life in raising funds for its endowment. He often said, " It is 
a blessing to a boy to be born in a college town.'" He and his only 
brother found it so. His brother. Judge Edwin Lawrence, of Ann 
Arbor, Michigan, was graduated eight years after himself, and 
served, for thirteen years, a most honest and severely upright judge, 
before the bar of Washtenaw county. Mr. Lawrence honored his 
State and his State honored him. The experience he attained in his 
profession, the high esteem in which he was held for his course in 
life, his usefulness to the State, are all well known. In June before 
his death, he was honored with the nomination for Governor on the 
temperance ticket, but failing health prevented his acceptance. On 
November 7th, 1852, Mr. Lawrence passed quietly away. 

Note (e). — Fitchburg, a growing town in the northern part of 
Worcester county, had become a great railroad center. It may not 
seem irrelevant to give a brief description of the town with whose 
interests Dr. Robinson became identified, and which he left for busy 
scenes of wider range. In its location upon the Nashua river, it 
possessed many natural advantages for the building of a great city. 
There was ample room for its many industries, works in iron and 
brass, the foundry and steam-boiler works, and steam-engine com- 
pany works. Putnam machine-shops, established in 1836, the oldest 
and largest machine-shops in the city, cover fourteen acres, and they 
have all the facilities for making all the tools they use. The Simonds 
Manufacturing Co. dates from 1832. Their machine knives, circular 
and handsaws are known over the whole world. They are the largest 
manufacturers of machine knives in the world. The circular saw 
exhibited by them at the World's Fair, 1893, is the largest saw ever 
made, being 130 inches in diameter. 

Then there were the woolen mills, the first one started in 1822; 
the first paper mill, in 1804. There is Rollstone mountain, east of 
the Nashua river. It is of solid granite, from three to four hun- 
dred feet high, and about a mile in circumference. In 1844, granite 
was sent to Boston for the construction of the Fitchburg railroad 
station. The first building in Fitchburg to be built of Rollstone 
granite was the stone mill on Lamb street, built in 1852., No der- 
rick was used to lift the blocks into place, for they were all drawn 
up on an inclined plane by oxen. 

There was the river and the mill in the valley, and when the 
railroads centered there, a great impetus was given to every sort of 



390 



LIFE OF CHABEES EOBIN'SON 



business; and there were the homes, many of them palatial ones, 
perched upon the high hills inclosing the main street and the river, 
almost like an amphitheater. The town has often heen called the 
Heidelberg of America, from the old German Heidelberg with its 
castles upon the hilltops. 

Fitchburg has become a half-shire town since then, and has greatly 
increased in wealth and prosperity. Its first library was a shelf of 
books of travels and stories, in a blacksmith's shop on the " Back 
Road." There are now 30,000 volumes in the public library, and 
13.000 card-holders use the books. 

Note (f). — Mrs. Robinson's mother, Clarissa Dwight, was a 
woman who joined to personal charm and intellectual strength, great 
independence of character and marked individuality. She was the 
twelfth and youngest child of Col. Henry Dwight and Ruth Rich, 
the only one of the children who had a clear brunette complexion 
and large dark eyes. She not only enjoyed the advantages of the 
private schools in town, but several terms at Hopkins Academy, 
Hadley, and Deerfield Academy; also with some relations — Dwights — 
who conducted a school for young ladies at Hartford, Connecticut. 
She much resembled, in personal appearance as well as mental char- 
acteristics, her cousin Miss Catherine Maria Sedgwick, daughter of 
Pamelia Dwight and the Hon. Theodore Sedgwick, of Stockbridge, 
Berkshire county, Mass. Miss Sedgwick, in those days when few 
women ventured upon using their pen, had become quite famous by 
her little books, intended to arouse popular thought upon some of the 
evils of the time: "The Rich Poor Man," "The Poor Rich Man," "Live 
and Let Live," " Hope Leslie," the " Linwoods," the " Redwoods," and 
many other books of interest and value. Miss Margaret Dwight, an- 
other cousin, had been the founder of the celebrated Gothic Seminary 
for young ladies at Northampton, and a successful teacher in it. 
Mrs. Doolittle, with whose whole name the young girl was chris- 
tened (Sara Tappan Doolittle), and Mrs. Lawrence seemed to be 
looked upon as the godmothers of the town. They were at the head 
of every public enterprise, educational or benevolent, and never 
halted for one moment's rest. For many years they held the posi- 
tions alternately of President and " Directress " of a large and 
busy sewing-circle. Their earnings usually went to gladden the 
hearts of missionaries in the newer fields, but the work of one sum- 
mer was devoted to procuring Minds for the newly repaired church. 
A little " outing " for pleasure was made to South Hadley Falls for 



APPENDi: 



391 



the purchase of the blinds, an omnibus-load of ladies appearing at the 
blind factory one day, with Mrs. Lawrence at their head. The 
church was long and had its double row of windows, and the ladies 
did not consider their work complete until the blinds were painted 
and hung. 

It may be because Mrs. Lawrence was at all times called upon 
to aid the public and never refused, that her two daughters were so 
early trained to be ready for action at any emergency. It seems odd 
in these days, when girls grow up without knowledge of matters 
connected with housekeeping, to hear of a little girl of ten years 
mounting upon her small chair, and making the " election cake " 
lor the sewing-circle of forty members to meet with her mother the 
next afternoon. Her father was possessed of the happy thought that 
what was good for a boy fitting for the college would be equally good 
for his two daughters. Hence at this time the child of ten was 
keeping pace with her brother, making good progress in Andrew and 
Stoddard's Latin Grammar and Exercises, and two years afterward 
was reading one hundred lines of Virgil a day. 

It may not be considered amiss to give something of the history 
and characteristics of the Dwights, Mrs. Lawrence's ancestry. It is 
taken mostly from the Genealogy of Dwights, two large volumes 
of nearly 1,200 pages. Such a judicial history as is given of the 
descendants of Captain Henry Dwight, of Hatfield, in western Massa- 
chusetts, cannot, we believe, be paralleled in any other family in 
the land. Five of the Dwights, all closely related to each other, 
sat at different times as justices upon the bench of the same court, 
that of common pleas, of Hampshire county, Massachusetts. These 
were Capt. Henry Dwight, of Hatfield ; Col. Timothy Dwight, of 
Northampton, his nephew; two sons of Capt. Henry Dwight, namely, 
Col. Joshua Dwight of Springfield and Gen. Josenh Dwight of Great 
Barrington, and Major Timothy Dwight of Northampton, son of 
Col. Timothy Dwight, and father of President Dwight of Yale Col- 
lege. Captain Henry Dwight was judge for five years, until his 
death. Col. Timothy Dwight held the office twice (1737-41 and 
(1758-74.) In two different instances two Dwights sat as asso- 
until his death. Joseph Dwight was judge from 1753-61, when the 
county was divided, and he was made judge of the new county of 
Berkshire, which position he held until his death in 1765. He was 
also judge of probate of Berkshire county at the same time. Major 
Timothy Dwight was judge in Berkshire county sixteen years 



392 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

(1758-74). In two different instances two Dwights sat as asso- 
ciate judges on the same bench: first, from 1750 to 1757, Col. Timo- 
thy Dwight and Col. Josiah Dwight, his cousin; secondly, from 1758 
to 1761, Major Timothy Dwight and Gen. Joseph Dwight, second 
cousins to each other. In one instance a son, Major Timothy Dwight, 
immediately succeeded his father, Col. Timothy Dwight (1750). 
In two other instances, two sons of the same father succeeded him 
to the same office. But strangest of all, three Dwights sat for four 
years each as judges upon the same bench: Col. Timothy Dwight 
(1748-57); Col. Josiah Dwight (1750-68); and Brig.-Gen. Joseph 
Dwight (1756-61). Gen. Joseph Dwight was judge at different times 
in three different counties: Worcester, Hampshire, and Berkshire. 
Two of this family were Chief Justices: Col. Timothy Dwight and 
Brig.-Gen. Dwight. The history of the court of common pleas and of 
the probate court also, of Hampshire county, the one for more than 
seventy-five years and the other for more than eighty, were so con- 
nected with the history of the Dwight family as to be worthy of 
notice. 

Capt. Henry Dwight was active in the subsequent purchase of 
the territory composing now the towns of Great Barrington, Sheffield, 
Egremont, Alford, all in what is now Berkshire county. Captain 
Dwight and two other gentlemen were " a committee appointed by 
the General Court to purchase a certain tract of land lying upon the 
Housatonic river." That land was cheap at Hatfield, and that Cap- 
tain Dwight was disposed to purchase largely, appears from the 
fact that in June, 1772, he purchased 1,200 acres for one hundred 
eighty pounds, or three English shillings per acre. 

The name Dwight is now, as in days gone by, a well-recognized 
symbol throughout the land, of earnest appreciation of all that is 
highest and best in education and religion, and in personal indus- 
try and personal worth. If asked to state what one practical qual- 
ity beyond any other has characterized the family within the author's 
range of observation, he would at once reply, military talent, or that 
natural executive energy and administrativeness which may be 
readily and effectively applied to the demands of the battle-field., 
the exigencies of general business, the explorations of studious re- 
search, or the comprehensive duties of statesmanship, or of official 
service of one's country; and which, in whatever field of employment 
exerted, is in itself one and the same essential manifestation of man!/ 
vigor of thought and feeling. The next most practical trait of those 



APPENDIX 393 

of the family known to history, has been that of their own separate 
individuality of conscience and of conviction of character and con- 
duct. The personal element has been generally a marked factor in 
the composition of their ideas, in the expression of them, in their 
words and deeds. They have been in a striking degree men and 
women of thought, independent in framing their opinions, and 
fearless in acting according to them, and in declaiming them freely 
and unmistakably to others. The feminine branches of a family 
exhibit the higher qualities that distinguish it, quite as clearly as 
those which bear the family name. Any one having a long ac- 
quaintance with the family history can easily rally to his thought 
many an honored name, both among the living and the dead, resonant 
with its own intrinsic worth, which has been drawn from the best 
D wight motherhood, gracing its own lineage and graced by it. 
They could not call any man their father in their habits of re- 
ligious thinking, — not John Calvin, nor their own Jonathan Edwards 
or President Dwight, but like those very leaders of religious thought 
themselves, they were like those wise men of progress in their ideas 
of religious truth. Theology, a human science at the best, they re- 
garded as being in itself as thoroughly capable of improvement from 
time to time as any other piece of man's wisdom; and more desirably 
so than any other, because of its larger bearings in every way on 
human happiness, here and forever. And the moral and scriptural 
ideas which they cherished for the life and light and warmth which 
they gave to their own souls, they were ever active in putting into 
force in the communities where they lived, rejoicing to meet any 
invitation or opportunity for their manifestation. They have not 
been lovers of general society. Being studious to a large degree, and 
fond of seeking the higher culture, they have become by their special 
tastes and habits, greatly isolated in their lives of effort and expe- 
rience. They have been no idlers, overcome with ennui, and wasteful 
of life's best opportunities for receiving and doing good. With quite 
a large number of the leading spirits in the family it would not be 
too much to say that their love of work amounted almost to a rul- 
ing passion. With abounding energy of will, they have addressed 
themselves to the highest points of human hope and thought, and. 
delighted to communicate the riches of truth and love that they had 
found with others in the recitation-room, the pulpit and the press. 
They have been conspicuous always for their swiftness and power to 
protest against wrong; high-hearted leaders of forlorn hopes; brave 



394 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 



helpers of anyone they found in life's pathway; strong lovers of 
everything truest and best in the community, and strong haters of 
anything evil; warm in their likes and warm in their dislikes, 
with an intense dislike for shams in all matters of social intercourse, 
of business, and of taste. The constitution of the Dwight name is 
thoroughly non-jesuitical. The aspirations and impulses of those 
who have given character, a name to the family, have grown out of 
and clustered around such doctrines, imbedded deeply in their hearts, 
as these: 

" The sacredness of religious conditions is in individual minds." 

" No infallible system of interpretation of the Scriptures to be 
found anywhere, in any human being, council, creed, or sect." 

" Continual progress toward something ever better than before, in 
each individual and in society at large." 

" The greatest possible freedom of thought, feeling and action to 
be allowed to every one, consistent with similar rights to all others, 
and the good of all." 

" Justice to all men, liberty to all, and peace to men of peace." 

Note (g). — When Josiah had completed his apprenticeship as 
printer, he wanted to get a position with the New York Evangelist. 
His father asked him what recommendation he would offer. He re- 
plied, " I would recommend myself." He was accepted by the 
Evangelist office, and remained there until he came to Lawrence, 
when he was assistant editor of the Lawrence Journal in association 
with Hovey Lowman. At the time of the Quantrell raid, he was one 
of the three young men who were killed at Dr. Griswold's house, that 
fatal morning of August 21st, 1863, — JVlr. Baker alone surviving, of 
a group of four. A memorial of Trask was written by a minister 
of Fitchbiirst. 



APPENDIX B. 



EXTRACTS FROM THE WRITINGS, ADDRESSES AND PAPERS 
OF CHARLES ROBINSON. 



SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE CLOSE OF THE 
"WAKARUSA WAR," 

BY GENERAL CHARLES ROBINSON. 
From the Herald of Freedom, December 15, 1855. 

Fellow- Soldiers: In consequence of a •'misunderstanding'' on 
the part of the Executive of this Territory, the people of this vicin- 
ity have been menaced by a foreign foe, and our lives and property 
threatened with destruction. The citizens, guilty of no crime, rallied 
for the defense of their families, their property, and their lives, and 
from all parts of the Territory the true patriots came up, resolved 
to perish in the defense of their most sacred rights rather than sub- 
mit to foreign dictation. Lawrence and her citizens were the first 
to be sacrificed, and most nobly have her neighbors come to her 
rescue. The moral strength of our position was such that even the 
"* gates of hell " could not prevail against us, much less a foreign 
mob, and we gained a bloodless victory. Literally may it be said 
of our citizens, " They came, they saw, they conquered."' 

Selected as your commander, it becomes my cheerful duty to tender 
to you, fellow-soldiers, the meed of praise so justly your due. Never 
did true men unite in a holier cause, and never did true bravery 
appear more conspicuous, than in the ranks of our little army. 
Death before dishonor was visible in every countenance, and felt by 
every heart. Bloodless though the contest has been, there are not 
wanting instances of heroism worthy of a more chivalric age. To 
the experience, skill and perseverance of the gallant General Lane 
all credit is due for the thorough discipline of our forces, and the 
complete and extensive preparations for defense. His services can- 
not be overrated; and long may he live to wear the laurels so 
bravely won. Others are worthy of special praise for distinguished 
services, and all, both ofiicers and privates, are entitled to the deep- 
est gratitude of the people. 

In behalf of the citizens of Lawrence, in behalf of the ladies 01 
Lawrence, in behalf of the children of Lawrence, in behalf of your 
fellow-soldiers of Lawrence, and in my own behalf, I thank you of 
the neighboring settlements for your prompt and manly response to 

(sr 



398 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

our call for aid, and pledge you a like response to your signals of 
distress. The citizens who have left their homes to come to our 
assistance have suffered great privations and many discomforts and 
expenses, while the citizens of Lawrence have incurred heavy ex- 
penses; but all has been submitted to without a murmur, and in a 
spirit worthy of a people engaged in a high and holy cause. 

The war is ended, our duties are discharged, and it only remains 
for me, with the warmest affection for every soldier in this conflict, 
to bid you adieu, and dismiss you, to go again to the bosoms of your 
families. 



APPENDIX 399 



EXTRACT FROM THE ORATION DELIVERED AT THE 
BURIAL OF BARBER. 

The occasion which calls us together is one of deep interest and 
peculiar significance to every patriot and republican. 

Our Territory has been repeatedly invaded, and our dearest rights 
trampled upon, by the citizens of a foreign State. They have taken 
possession of our ballot-boxes, and by force of arms have wrested 
from us the right to make our own laws and choose our own rulers, 
and imposed upon us a system of laws uncongenial to our natures 
and wants. Having accomplished all this by invasion and outrage, 
it was but natural to suppose that invasion and outrage would be 
necessary to enforce their enactments. " Misunderstanding " the 
facts and the temper of the people as well as their tactics, the Execu- 
tive recently gave the signal for another invasion, and the armed 
hordes responded. Our citizens have been besieged, robbed, insulted, 
and murdered; and our town threatened with destruction for two 
whole weeks, by the authority of the Executive, and, as he now says, 
in consequence of a " misunderstanding." 

A misunderstanding on the part of our Executive is a most un- 
fortunate affair. 

Our Governor having been told that the people of Kansas did not 
recognize the laws of Missouri, and were determined these laws 
should be a dead letter in the Territory, unwittingly fell into the 
error of supposing the people would array themselves against the 
Government of the United States, evidently not understanding how 
a code of enactments can be effectually resisted and no law violated. 
Had he carefully read the early history of his country, he might. 
have understood the " sons of liberty " better than to suppose any 
United States law would be violated by the people, or, if violated, 
that the community would be guilty of violating it. 

By whose act do the remains of the lamented Thomas Barber now 
await interment at our hands? By whose hand is his wife made a 
widow? By whose instrumentality are we made to mourn the un- 
timely fall of a brave comrade and worthy citizen? 



400 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

Report says Thomas Barber was murdered in cold blood by an 
■officer or officers of the Government, who was a member of the 
sheriff's posse, which was commanded by the Governor, who is backed 
by the President of the United States. 

Was Thomas Barber murdered? 

Then are the men who killed him, and the officials by whose 
authority they acted, his murderers. And if the laws are to be en- 
forced, then will the Indian Agent, the Governor, and the President 
be convicted of, and punished for, murder? There is work enough 
for the " law-and-order " men to do, and let us hear no more about 
resistance to the laws till this work is done. If all Missouri must be 
aroused and the whole nation convulsed to serve a peace warrant 
on an unoffending citizen, may we not expect some slight effort will 
be made to bring these capital offenders to justice? Or are our laws 
made for the low, and not for the high, — for the poor, and not for 
the rich? 

For the dead we need not mourn. He fell a martyr to principle; 
and his blood will nourish the tree of liberty. An honorable death 
is preferable to a dishonorable and inglorious life. Such was the 
death of our brother, and as such he will ever be cherished by his 
companions and fellow-citizens. It is glory enough for any man that 
a body of men like the Barber Guards should adopt his name to 
designate and distinguish their company. 

To his beloved and bereaved wife, to his brothers and relatives, 
to the members of his company, to all who have pledged property, 
honor, and life to the cause of freedom and humanity, I seem to hear 
the spirit of our departed brother say : " Be of good cheer ; weep not 
for me; you are engaged in a good work, and your reward will be 
glorious. Death is no misfortune to the true; indeed, it is sweet 
to die in defense of liberty." 

But the shock produced by the murder of our friend is felt be- 
yond the circle of his immediate relations and friends. It has 
shaken the entire fabric of our Government to its very base, and 
nothing but the unseen hand of the All-Wise Governor of the Uni- 
verse could have saved this nation from civil war and political death. 

It is due to the bold stand taken by the freemen of Kansas during 
the late invasion that the sun of Liberty is still above the horizon ; 
and cold indeed must be the heart, wherever found, that does not 



APPENDIX 401 

beat in unison with ours as we pay cur last tribute of respect to the 
remains of our brother! 

Can the people of this nation approve the 

" Costly mockery of piling stone on stone ? 
To those who won our liberty, the heroes dead and gone, 
While we look coldly on, and see law-shielded ruffians slay 
The men who fain would win their own, the heroes of to-day ? " 

No! 

Be callous as they will, 

From soul to soul, o'er all the world, 

Leaps one electric thrill." 



—26 



402 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON" 



EXTRACTS FROM ORATION DELIVERED AT LAWRENCE, 
KANSAS TERRITORY, JULY 4, 1855, 

This day, the seventy-ninth anniversary of the Declaration of 
American Independence, finds us in a new and strange country and 
surrounded by circumstances interesting and peculiar. While the 
echoes of the booming cannon are reverberating among our native 
hills, and the merry peals of the church-going bells are announcing 
to the world the rejoicings of a great and prosperous people, that 
their days of weakness, suffering and thraldom are past, we are here 
in a remote wilderness, to found a new State, and to plant anew 
the institutions of our patriotic ancestors. It is a day to us of 
peculiar significance. While we would pay a tribute of respect to 
that period which in the annals of this nation will ever be regarded 
as most sacred; while with one accord and with one voice we worship 
in the Temple of Liberty, uncontaminated by party distinctions or 
sectional animosities, and unite in the endeavor to raise some fit- 
ting memento of a Nation's gratitude for the declarations of that 
day, the most glorious in the history of a mighty People, we should 
also gather lessons of instruction from the past by which to be guided 
in the erection of a new State in the heart of this great Republic. 

One lesson the history of our Government should teach us who 
have chosen Kansas for our home, and that is especially applicable 
to the instructions of this day, viz.: the more closely the principles 
of the Declaration of Independence are followed as a basis of Gov- 
ernment, and the more universal they are made in their application, 
the more prosperous the Government and people. 

As the people of Kansas Territory are to-day the subjects of a 
foreign State, as laws are now being imposed upon us by the citi- 
zens of Missouri, for the sole purpose of forcing upon this Territory 
the institution of Slavery, I surely need make no apology for de- 
voting the few moments allotted to me on this occasion, to an exami- 
nation of the effects of this institution upon a State and people, 
whether politically, morally, or socially. I ask you not to-day to 
listen to arguments of Abolitionists, or for Abolitionism. I wish not 



APPENDIX 403 

to wage war upon Slavery or slaveholders in any State of this Union, 
or to interfere in any respect with our neighbors' affairs; but it is 
for ourselves, our families, our own institutions and our prosper- 
ity, — it is for Kansas, I ask your attention. Is it politic, is it for 
our moral, intellectual or pecuniary advancement to submit to the 
dictation of a foreign power in regard to our laws and institu- 
tions? This is the question that deeply interests us all, and for 
the consideration of which this day is most appropriate. 

Liberty, the goddess to whom this day is dedicated, showers upon, 
her votaries peace and prosperity, intelligence and enterprise, mor- 
ality and religion. The inspirer and guide of Washington and the 
patriot fathers, may she become the presiding genius of our own 
beautiful Kansas ! Slavery — the opposite and antagonist of Lib- 
erty, the ruin of nations, the impoverisher of States, the demoralizer 
of communities, the curse of the world, the child of hell — may she 
go to her own place. On this day and this occasion we may speak 
freely, assured that no offense can be given by the strongest expres- 
sions in favor of Freedom, or in opposition to Slavery, as no one 
who is in favor of the latter can join in the celebration of this day. 
No person who does not "hold these truths to be self-evide'rit : that 
all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator 
with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness," can consistently participate in the 
festivities of this day. Nay, should we fail to speak in utter de- 
testation of Slavery, and hurl defiance at the monster on this anni- 
versary of Freedom's natal day, especially when the tyrant has 
already placed his foot upon our necks, why, the very stones would 
cry out! 

Fellow-citizens, let us for a moment inquire who and where and 
what are we? 

Who are we? Are we not free-born? Were not our mothers as 
well as our fathers of Anglo-Saxon blood? Was not the right to 
govern ourselves, to choose our own rulers, to make our own laws, 
guaranteed to us by the united voice of the United States? 

Where are we? Are we not in the most beautiful country that 
human eye ever heheld? Is it not for surface, soil and productions, 
worthy to be styled the garden of the world? A wilderness, yet al- 
ready budding and blossoming like the rose ? A new country, yet hav- 
ing the appearance in its diversity of meadow and woodland, of hill 



404 LIFE OF CHABXES KOBINSON 

and dale, of a land long inhabited, and most beautifully and tastefully 
laid out into parks and groves? With a mild and salubrious climate, 
a dry, pure atmosphere, must it not soon become the resort of the in- 
valid from the consumptive East and the ends of the earth? 

Our situation, geographically, is in the center of this republic, 
at the half-way station between the Atlantic and Pacific, the Gulf 
of Mexico and the British Possessions. The " Father of Waters " 
extends to us his great right arm and proffers the commerce of the 
world and a market for all our productions; and the line of steam 
and telegraphic communication that is soon to encircle the globe will 
of course pass directly through our Territory, thus bringing to our 
very doors the commerce of China and the Indies. 

What are we? Subjects, slaves of Missouri! We come to the 
celebration of this anniversary with our chains clanking about our 
limbs; we lift to heaven our manacled arms in supplication; pro- 
scribed, outlawed, denounced, we cannot so much as speak the name 
of Liberty except with prison-walls and halters looking us in the 
face. We must not only see black Slavery, the blight and curse of 
any people, planted in our midst, and against our wishes, but we 
must become slaves ourselves. 

Persons may teach that the Declaration of Independence was a 
lie; that tyranny and oppression, a thousand-fold more severe than 
that which our ancestors rose in rebellion against, are right; that 
marriage is a mockery; that the parent shall not have possession of 
his own child, nor the husband his wife; that education is a crime; 
that traffic in human beings, the bodies and souls of men, is a 
virtue; — all this may be taught with impunity in this boasted land 
of ours, and those who teach such things must be recognized as 
gentlemen and Christians. But to teach that all men are created 
equal; that they have an inalienable right to life and liberty; that 
oppression is a crime, and that education, religion and good morals 
are virtues, — this is not to be tolerated for a moment. Tar and 
feathers, the gallows and stake, await all persons who dare express 
a belief in such dangerous doctrines, if we can believe our masters. 
Masters, did I say? Heaven forbid! Subjects? slaves? Oh, no! 
it is all a mistake. What! the whisky-drinking, profane, blas- 
phemous, degrading, foul-mouthed and contemptible rabble that in- 
vaded our Territory at the late elections, our masters? Never! 
Never ! I can say to Death, Be thou my master, — and to the grave, 



APPENDIX 405 

Be thou my prison-house; but acknowledge such creatures my 
masters, never! No, thank God, we are yet free, and hurl defiance 
at those who would make us slaves. 

"Look on, who will, in apathy, and stifle, they who can, 
The sympathies, the hopes, the words, that "make man truly man ; 
Let those whose hearts are dungeoned up with interest or with ease, 
Consent to hear with quiet pulse of loathsome deeds like these ! 
We first drew in New England's air, and from her hardy breast 
Sucked in the tyrant-hating milk that will not let us rest ; 
And if our words seem treason to the dullard and the tame, 
'Tis but our native dialect,— our fathers spake the same." 

With truth and justice on our side, we have nothing to fear, for — 

"Thrice is he armed who hath his quarrel just, 
And he but naked, though locked up in steel, 
Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted." 

Whose conscience with injustice is corrupted, if not his who with- 
holds from the laborer his due, who makes merchandise of men, 
women and children, who sunders family ties, sending the husband 
perhaps to the cane-fields of Mississippi, the wife to a New Orleans 
brothel, and the children to the rice-swamps of Alabama, never to see 
one another again, and to all spend their lives amid whips and chains ? 
Is it not " confirmation strong as Holy Writ," and their conscience 
is corrupted, when such men " repel the doctrine " that such proceed- 
ings are wrong, either morally or politically ? when they " hurl back 
with scorn" the charge that conduct like this can be inhuman? Per- 
haps it is not inhuman, if they are fair samples of humanity: but 
it is certainly un-beastlike. 

And who are the cowards in this contest, if not those who shun 
investigation, tremble at free discussion, or even the expression of 
an opinion, who cry out, " Down with the press, down with the 
church, and down with every man who disapproves of oppression " ? 
And what acts are more cowardly, if it is brave and manly for scores 
of men, maddened with whisky, to prowl about in the dark and de- 
stroy the defenseless, to seize peaceable and unarmed citizens, to tar 
and feather them, to throw printing-presses into the river, and 
threaten to shoot governors and hang editors, and especially to march 
upon a weak and defenseless people by thousands, armed with deadly 
weapons of all kinds, the most deadly of which is whisky, and trample 
under their feet the dearest rights of freemen, imposing upon a neigh- 
baring Territory a foreign government and laws not of their choice, 



406 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

at the point of the bayonet ? If such acts are brave and heroic, what 
are cowardly and villainous? 

What reason is given for the cowardly invasion of our rights by 
our neighbors ? No good reason is or can be given. They and their 
apologists say that if Kansas is allowed to be free, the institution 
of slavery in their own State will be in danger; that the contrast 
between a free and a slave State will be so great that their own 
citizens will become abolitionists, or the underground railroad will 
relieve them of their slaves. But for the first cause there is no 
danger of alarm, if their doctrine is correct that slavery is a bless- 
ing, and not a moral or political evil. If it is the humane institu- 
tion that they represent, who will want to see it abolished? As to 
the second cause, there is no ground to fear, provided the people of 
Missouri mind their own affairs and let ours alone, for it is not true 
that the settlers of Kansas have enticed away a single negro, or at- 
tempted to do so. On this point we speak by authority; for do not 
the Westport and other Missouri papers say that the general agency 
of this line of travel is under our charge? — and did those papers 
ever tell an untruth ? We say, then, officially, that up to the present 
time not the first rail has been laid of this road in Kansas ; but the 
workmen are in readiness, and will commence operations with a will 
if our affairs are again interfered with by foreign intruders. If the 
people of Missouri make it necessary, by their unlawful course, for 
us to establish freedom in that State in order to enjoy the liberty of 
governing ourselves in Kansas, then let that be the issue. If Kan- 
sas or the whole North must be enslaved or Missouri become free, 
then let her be made free. Aye, and if to be free ourselves slavery 
must be abolished in the whole country, then let us accept that issue. 
If black slavery in a part of the States is incompatible with white 
freedom in any State, then let black slavery be banished from all. 
As men espousing the principles of the Declaration of the fathers, 
we can do nothing less than accept these issues. Not that we are 
unfriendly to the South : far from it. If there be any true friend of 
the South in this assembly, to him we say that our love to the South 
is no less than his. If, then, such friend demand why we are ready 
to accept this issue, this is our answer: Not that we love the South 
less, but we love our country more. " Had you rather Caesar were 
living, and die all slaves, than that Caesar were dead, to live all free- 
men?" "Who is here so base that would be a bondman? If any, 
speak, for him have I offended." 



APPENDIX 407 

Fellow-citizens, in conclusion, it is for us to choose for ourselves, 
and for those who shall come after us, what institution shall bless or 
curse our beautiful Kansas. Shall we have freedom for all her peo- 
ple, and consequent prosperity, or slavery for a part, with the blight 
and mildew inseparable from it? Chose ye this day which you will 
serve, Slavery or Freedom, and then be true to your choice. If 
Slavery is best for Kansas, then choose it; but if Liberty, then 
choose that. 

Let every man stand in his place, and acquit himself like a man 
who knows his rights, and knowing, dares maintain them. Let us 
repudiate all laws enacted by foreign legislative bodies, or dictated 
by Judge Lynch over the way. Tyrants are tyrants and tyranny is 
tyranny, whether under the garb of law or in opposition to it. So 
thought and acted our ancestors, and so let us think and act. We 
are not alone in this contest. The entire nation is agitated upon 
the question of our rights. The spirit of '76 is breathing upon some 
the handwriting upon the wall is being discerned by others, while 
the remainder the gods are evidently preparing for destruction. 

Every pulsation in Kansas vibrates to the remotest artery of the 
body politic, and I seem to hear the millions of freemen and the mill- 
ions of bondmen in our land, the millions of the oppressed in other 
lands, the patriots and philanthropists of all countries, the spirits of 
the Revolutionary heroes, and the voice of God, all saying to the 
people of Kansas, " Do your duty ! " 



408 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 



SELECTIONS FROM THE FIRST MESSAGE TO THE FIRST 
FREE-STATE LEGISLATURE, MARCH 4, 1856. 

The organization of a new government is always attended with 
more or less difficulty, and should, under the most favorable circum- 
stances, enlist the learning, judgment and prudence of the wisest men 
in all its departments. The most skillful workmanship is requisite, 
that each part of the complicated machinery may be adapted to its 
fellow, and that a harmonious whole, without jar or blemish, may 
be the result. In Kansas especially is this a most delicate and diffi- 
cult task. Our citizens are from every State in the Union, and from 
nearly every country on the globe, and their institutions, religion, 
education, habits and tastes are as various as their origin. Also 
in our midst are several independent nations, and on our borders, 
both west and east, are outside invaders. 

The reasons why the Territorial Government should be suspended 
and Kansas admitted into the Union as a State, are various. 

In the first place, it is not a government of the people. The exec- 
utive and judicial officers are imposed upon the people by a distant 
power, and the officers thus imposed are foreign to our soil, and are 
accountable, not to the people, but to an executive two thousand miles 
distant. American citizens have for a long time been accustomed 
to govern themselves, and to have a voice in the choice of their offi- 
cers ; but, in the Territorial Government, they not only have no voice 
in choosing some of their officers, but are deprived of a vote for the 
officers who appoint them. 

Again : Governments are instituted for the good and protection of 
the governed; but the Territorial Government of Kansas has been 
and still is an instrument of oppression and tyranny unequaled in 
the history of our republic. The only officers that attempted to ad- 
minister the law impartially have been removed, and persons substi- 
tuted who have aided in our subjugation. Such has been the con- 
duet of the officers and the people of a neighboring State, either in- 
tentionally or otherwise, that Kansas to-day is without a single law 



APPENDIX 409 

enacted by the people of the Territory. Not a man in the country 
will attempt to deny that every election had under the Territorial 
Government was carried by armed invaders from an adjoining State. 
and for the purpose of enacting laws in opposition to the known 
wishes of the people. 

The Territorial Government should be withdrawn, because it is 
inoperative. The officers of the law permit all manner of outrages 
and crimes to be perpetrated by the invaders and their friends 
with impunity, while the citizens proper are naturally law-abiding 
and order-loving, disposed rather to suffer than to do wrong. Sev- 
eral of the most aggravated murders on record have been committed, 
but as long as the murderers are on the side of the oppressors, no 
notice is taken of them. Not one of the whole number has been 
brought to justice, and not one will be, by the Territorial officers. 
While the marauders are thus in open violation of all law, nine- 
tenths of the people scorn to recognize as law the enactments of a for- 
eign body of men, and would sooner lose their right arm than bring 
action in one of their misnamed courts. Americans can suffer 
death, but not dishonor; and sooner than the people will consent 
to recognize the edicts of lawless invaders as laws, their blood will 
mingle with the waters of the Kansas, and this Union will be rolled 
together in civil strife. 

Not only is this Territorial Government the instrument of op- 
pression and subjugation of the people, but under it there is no hope 
of relief. The organic act permits the Legislature to prescribe the 
qualification of voters, and the so-called Legislature has provided 
that no man shall vote in any election who will not bow the knee to 
the dark image of slavery, and appointed officers for the term of four 
years to see that this provision is carried out. Thus nine-tenths 
of the citizens are disfranchised and debarred from acting under the 
Territorial Government if they would. 

Even if allowed to vote, the Chief Executive of the country says 
that he has no power to protect the ballot-box from invaders, and if 
the people organize to protect themselves, his appointees intimate 
that they must be disarmed and put down; hence, whether allowed 
to vote or not, there is no opportunity for the people of the Territory 
to rule under the present Territorial Government. Indeed, the laws 
are so made and construed that the citizens of a neighboring State 
are lesral voters in Kansas, and of course no United States fore? can 



410 



LIFE OF CHAELES ROBINSON 



be brought against them. They are by law entitled to invade us 
and control cur elections. 

Whereas, the Territorial Government, as now constituted for 
Kansas, has proved a failure, — squatter sovereignty under its work- 
ings a miserable delusion, — in proof of which it is only necessary to 
refer to our past history, and our present deplorable condition; — our 
ballot-boxes have been taken possession of by armed men from foreign 
States, and our people forcibly driven therefrom; persons attempted 
to be foisted upon us as members of a so-called Legislature, unac- 
quainted with our wants, and hostile to our best interests, some of 
them never residents of cur Territory; misnamed laws passed, and 
now attempted to be enforced by the aid of citizens of foreign States, 
of the most oppressive, tyrannical, and insulting character; the 
light of suffrage taken from us, debarred from the privilege of a 
voice in the election of even the most insignificant officers ; the right 
of free speech stifled; the muzzling of the press attempted; — and 
whereas, longer forbearance with such oppression has ceased to be a 
virtue; — and whereas, the people of this country have heretofore ex- 
ercised the right of changing their form of government when it be- 
came oppressive, and have at all times conceded this right to the 
people in this and all other governments ; — and whereas, a Territorial 
form of government is unknown to the constitution, and is the mere 
creature of necessity, awaiting the action of the people ; — and whereas, 
the debasing character of the slavery which now involves us im- 
pels us to action, and leaves us the only legal and peaceful alterna- 
tive, — the immediate establishment of a State Government; — and 
whereas, the organic act fails in pointing out the course to be 
adopted in an emergency like ours: Therefore, you are requested to 
meet at your several precincts in said Territory hereinafter men- 
tioned, on the second Tuesday of October next, it being the ninth 
day of said month, and then and there cast your ballots for members 
of a convention to meet at Topeka on the fourth Tuesday of October 
next, to form a constitution, adopt a bill of rights for the people of 
Kansas, and take all needful measures for organizing a State govern- 
ment preparatory to the admission of Kansas into the Union as a 
State. 

It is understood that the deputy marshal has private instructions 



APPENDIX 411 

to arrest the members of the Legislature and the State officers for 
treason, as soon as this address is received by you. 

In such an event, of course, no resistance will be offered to the 
officer. Men who are ready to defend their own and their country's 
honor with their lives, can never object to a legal investigation into 
their actions, nor to suffer any punishment their conduct may merit. 
We should be unworthy the constituency we represent, did we 
shrink even from martyrdom on the scaffold, or at the stake, should 
duty require it. Should the blood of Collins and Dow, of Barber 
and Brown, be insufficient to quench the thirst of the President and 
his accomplices, in the hollow mockery of " squatter sovereignty " 
they are practicing upon the people of Kansas, then more victims 
must be furnished. Let what will come, not a finger should be raised 
against the Federal authority, until there shall be no hope of relief 
but in revolution. 

The task imposed upon us is a difficult one; but with mutual 
cooperation, and a firm reliance on His wisdom who makes " the 
wrath of man praise Him,"' we may hope to inaugurate a government 
that shall not be unworthy of the country and the age in which we 
live. 



4:12 LIFE OF CHAKLES SOBINSON 



MESSAGE OF GOVERNOR CHARLES ROBINSON, 
JUNE 11, 1857. 

Fellow-Citizens of the Senate and House of Representatives : 

You are again convened together at the expiration of the recess 
taken by you in January last. You meet under circumstances 
scarcely less difficult, and no less embarrassing, than have char- 
acterized the previous meetings of this Legislature. But your duties 
under the Constitution are plain, and the necessity for action im- 
perative. 

As the representatives of the people, you are here to do the work 
for which they have selected you. The bitter experience of the past 
has brought nothing with it that could relieve you of your responsibil- 
ity. Every step in that experience has shown the necessity for you to 
do your work, and that you with calmness, wisdom and determina- 
tion prepare those bulwarks on which the people may rest their con- 
stitutional rights, as American citizens, and keep the State Govern- 
ment in readiness for admission into the Union. 

As it becomes my duty to recommend such measures as I may 
deem expedient for your action, and to communicate to you the condi- 
tion of affairs in the State, I shall endeavor briefly to do so. 

Since I sent my message to you, when you first convened, in March, 
1856, many important and startling events have marked and dis- 
turbed the current of affairs. The horrors of actual warfare have 
existed in our midst. Towns and cities have been sacked and burned, 
and our citizens have been brutally murdered on the highways and 
in their homes. A hostile enemy on our eastern border has poured 
in predatory band after band, and army after army, with the design 
of harassing our citizens and completing the subjugation they had 
begun. 

The General Government, which still assumes the power of protec- 
tion over us, has basely used that power as the screen under which it 
has rendered aid and comfort to our enemies, and strengthened the 
hands of those foreign invaders who still pretend to hold the political 
power of the people, that they usurped. Nor have your labors or 
your persons been exempt. Lawless arrests have been made of your 



APPENDIX 413 

members, and also executive officers, by men who, although they pos- 
sessed some power, and in many instances held positions in connec- 
tion with the Federal courts, acted with irregularity and in defiance 
of even the rules which they professed to respect. 

A large and necessary portion of the labors of your codifying 
committee was destroyed, with much other property, at Lawrence, 
in May, 1856, when that place was pillaged and partially burned, 
by a mob brought there by a United States Marshal. When your 
bodies met pursuant to adjournment, in July last, your assembly was 
interfered with and broken up by a large force of United States 
troops, in battle array, who drove you hence, in gross violation of 
those constitutional rights which it was their duty to have protected. 
When you again convened in January last, at your regular session, 
your proceedings were again interfered with by a deputy marshal, 
and many of your members arrested. 

I do not propose entering into a minute detail of all the unhappy 
occurrences that have marked the past year — occurrences which 
have stamped a page of infamy on the history of the country. Let 
me refer you to the comprehensive address prepared by a committee 
of the convention that assembled in this place on the 10th of March 
last, for those particulars, an enumeration of which would absorb too 
much of your time. Suffice it to say, that owing to these causes the 
Government is not yet fully organized, and waits in urgent necessity 
for the completion of your work. 

The period for which you were elected is drawing to a close. No 
provision for taking the census has been made, and no election law 
adopted. Without these your function in the government will ex- 
pire, and with it the power of reproducing it. I cannot think that 
you will, in any contingency, incur the reproach of leaving helpless 
the people who trusted you, or compelling them to recur through 
original action to their primary power, for those needed steps which 
it is your duty to supply. 

In my message sent you in March, 1856, I enumerated the outlines 
of the legislation it would be incumbent on you to frame and adopt. 
Let me respectfully refer you to that document for those details. 

There is one subject of great moment for our present and future 
prosperity. The public land in our midst still belongs to the General 
Government. To secure these lands, or all of them that can be ob- 
tained, is a matter to which we should devote no ordinary attention. 
The policy hitherto adopted towards other new States, gives us just 



414: 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON" 



grounds to look to Congress for a grant of all the public lands in 
our midst. To your enterprise and endurance its value can be traced, 
and to you it rightly belongs. The sale of much of our valuable lands 
for the behalf of Indians, gives an additional claim on the Govern- 
ment for the remainder. Surely, the General Government will not 
seek to make a speculation on the bones and sinews of the struggling 
pioneers who seek to add another State to the confederacy. Let us 
respectfully urge upon the assembled wisdom of Congress our claim 
for donations of these lands, and let us press these claims before the 
Government has passed its title to all the valuable portions, into 
the hands of speculators. ]STo donation should, by its terms, conflict 
with the claim of a squatter on the soil. 

The inanimate framework of a Territorial Government still exists 
in Kansas. While the popular branch of Congress has accepted our 
application for admission into the Union, the Senate has still with- 
held its approval. In this isolated condition, our rights as American 
citizens, under the Constitution, and our inherent rights as men, 
remain to us. The Territorial Governor, recently sent among us by 
the Federal Government, in his inaugural truly said: 

" It is the people of Kansas, who, in forming their State Consti- 
tution, are to declare the terms upon which they propose to enter the 
Union. Congress cannot compel the people of a Territory to enter the 
Union as a State, or change, without their consent, the Constitution 
framed by the people. Congress, it is true, may for constitutional 
reasons refuse admission, but the State alone, in forming her Con- 
stitution, can prescribe the terms on which she will enter the Union. 
This power of the people of a Territory in forming a State consti- 
tution is one of vital importance, especially in the States carved out 
of the public domain. Nearly all the lands of Kansas are public 
lands, and most of them are occupied by Indian tribes. Those lands 
are the property of the Federal Government, but their right is exclu- 
sively that of a proprietor, carrying with it no political power." 

The doctrine here enunciated, is only what has been established by 
precedent, and reiterated time and again. In it we have a right to 
form a State constitution, and of necessity a complete State organiza- 
tion, for which its specific terms must provide. As Congress has 
neither the right to frame a Constitution for us, nor to " change " 
the same, it must be apparent to all, they have no power to destroy 
it when created. Governor Walker goes even farther than this, and 
farther than we have ever proposed going, for he says " The State 
alone, in forming her constitution, can prescribe the terms on which 
she will enter the Union," — clearly implying that she may enter the 



APPENDIX 415 

Union or not. Under these circumstances it is clearly apparent that 
the Federal Government has only sent Governor Walker as a Terri- 
torial officer to Kansas, because we have hitherto failed, or been 
unable to complete the organization we have begun. In the absence 
of the full and vital powers of government adopted by the people, 
this is merely an endeavor to carry out the implied protection. 

What renders this more unhappy, is the fact that the Federal 
authorities have never yet been able to afford us such protection, and 
as there is no Territorial law here, recognized by the people as such, 
the executive function is a mockery. 

Your first consideration is the necessities of the people, but be- 
yond that it is your duty to act with promptness, so as to relieve 
these Federal appointees of a merely nominal duty, that must be 
embarrassing and disrespectful to them, whilst the unsettled state 
of affairs conveys an impressive reproach to those republican insti- 
tutions on which all our hopes as a people center. In the Inaugural 
to which I have referred, there is a recommendation that our people 
forsake the government they have adopted, and under the management 
of usurping, pretended officials, seek to do over again what has been 
done. 

We do not think any serious or generally entertained desire exists 
amongst our people to do so: and, while opinions from such a 
source may be entitled to respect, it is at least unfortunate that a 
course of action in relation to the Constitution should be pointed out 
in the official address of a Federal appointee, Avho, in that very 
address, urges the rights of the people, and their rights alone, to 
take steps for a State government. It is clearly evident from that 
address itself, that Governor Walker has not been sufficiently con- 
versant with affairs in Kansas, to warrant the expression of opinion 
on so grave a matter. In that document he assures us that we shall 
have everything over which his executive function has no control, 
and refrains from expressing any opinion on the only points for 
which we could entertain hopes of his action. You are doubtless 
aware that Acting Territorial Governor Stanton issued a proclama- 
tion containing an apportionment of representation for a delegate 
convention. That apportionment leaves nearly one-half of Kansas 
without any representation, and as no census has been taken there by 
anyone, they will of course have no privilege of even voting. 

Had there been no State Constitution in Kansas; had a fraudu- 
lent, pretended Territorial Legislature never originated the steps to 



410 



LIFE OF CHAEX.ES EOBINSON 



which this Inaugural refers; had that action come simply from the 
people, as it legitimately should, there would still have been the 
strongest reasons why all good men should refrain from partici- 
pating in an act so grossly fraudulent and despotic as this pretended 
census, and partial appointment under it. In any event such proceed- 
ings will inevitably fall to the ground as lacking in that great 
essential, the popular will, which alone could give it vitality. 

Although that strange appointment which deliberately anticipates 
disfranchising one-half of the people was issued a week previous to 
the Inaugural of Gov. Walker, there was not the slightest allusion to 
that document. And yet the evidence of the fact was of easy access 
to him, and he was not ignorant of it. What does he mean when he 
says, " The law has performed its entire appropriate function Avhen 
it extends to the people the right of suffrage " ? 

Has it done so? or, is Gov. Walker ignorant of the fact that it 
has not? He adds: 

"Throughout our whole Union, however, and wherever free gov- 
ernment prevails, those who abstain from the exercise of the right 
of suffrage, authorize those who do vote to act for them in that 
contingency, and the absentees are as much bound under the law 
and the constitution, where there is no fraud or violence, by the act 
of the majority of those who do vote, as though all had partici- 
pated in the election." 

It would be needless to tell you that such a position, however good, 
is quite inapplicable to this so-called census law and all the proceed- 
ings under it. It originates in an usurping fraud, and every step in 
the process has been a fraud. It is not a proposed election to ascer- 
tain the wishes of the people, but a foregone conclusion, every part 
of which is carefully framed to accomplish a certain result. But if 
its applicability cannot be found in these proceedings, let me suggest 
where it can be applied. In the proceedings under which the State 
Constitution was framed and ratified, all the actual voters had the 
privilege of participating. Men of all parties did do so, and if any 
portion declined, it was because they feared to hazard the policy 
they were trying to thrust on Kansas to a popular vote. 

How are we to reconcile the two positions of this Federal In- 
augural — first, that the people alone must freely and fairly make or 
change their Constitution ; and secondly, that " the Territorial 
Legislature is the power ordained for this purpose oy tine United 
States, and in opposing it you oppose the authority of the Federal 
Government"? 



r •"'•• 



APPENDIX 417 

Well knowing that the complaint that the Legislature referred to 
did not derive its power from the people of Kansas, he makes up 
for its lack of popular legitimacy thus: "That Legislature was 
called into being by the Congress of 1854, and is recognized in the 
very latest Congressional legislature. It is recognized by the pres- 
ent Chief Magistrate of the Union." 

There is not much of " popular sovereignty " and " sell-govern- 
ment " here. This usurpation is repudiated by the people, but it is 
" recognized " by " Congress " and the " President."' Its pretended 
enactments are a dead letter. All the official proclamations and 
bulletins of Presidents and Territorial Governors cannot make them 
law, for nothing is law or can have the authority thereof save the 
legitimately expressed will of the people. But if the Federal authori- 
ties cannot make their usurpations laws, they seem bent on prevent- 
ing the people from having any law unless they will stoop to accept 
of this. Xever let it be said that the people of Kansas were so 
recreant to the principles of self-government as to accept the laws 
thrust upon them by a body of invaders. Such a fatal precedent 
would sow the seed that would spring up to the ultimate ruin of 
our Government. An insignificant minority in Kansas may cooperate 
with the invaders outside to perpetuate this usurpation, but, as 
Gov. Walker says : " The minority, in resisting the will of the ma- 
jority, may involve Kansas again in civil war; they may bring upon 
her reproach and obloquy, and destroy her progress and prosperity; 
they may keep her for years out of the Union, and, in the whirlwind 
of agitation, sweep away the Government itself; but Kansas never 
can be brought into the Union, with or without slavery, except by a 
previous solemn decision, fully, freely, and fairly made by a ma- 
jority of her people in voting for or against the adoption of her 
State Constitution." 

This has been done in the adoption of our State Constitution — 
has been done in accordance with the very principles and require- 
ments of this Inaugural itself, and we may well ask in the language 
of Gov. Walker, "Why then should this just, peaceful and consti- 
tutional mode of settlement meet with such opposition from any 
quarter ? " 

I cannot dismiss this Inaugural, sent amongst us by the Federal 

authorities and Territorial Governor, without noticing one or two 

other points. He says there is a clause in our Constitution forever 

excluding the African race, bond or free, from Kansas. There is 

—27 



418 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

no such clause in our Constitution, and it is to be regretted that 
Gov. Walker, who talks so much about the " will of the people," 
should not have given a Constitution emanating from them, a more 
careful investigation. At the time the Constitution was submitted 
to the people, a resolution from the people to the first Legislature 
was also submitted. This was neither " in " nor connected with the 
Constitution, and has just as much force as the first Legislature may 
choose to attach to it. It originated in an anxious desire to show 
favor to the peculiar institutions of " her sister States " — espe- 
cially her immediate neighbor, the State of Missouri. And how has 
this compromise spirit been met? By invasion, usurpation, rapine, 
fire and sword. Such clauses as that he has sarcastically said were 
in our Constitution, he expressly denies in another paragraph. 

How much more deeply he must feel the interests of Missouri than 
Kansas, is apparent when he recalls the debt of gratitude that the 
people of Kansas owe the State which has stripped our people of 
every constitutional right, has involved us in the confusion* of civil 
discord, and which is trying by the aid of General Government to 
place its feet upon our necks to-day. The first cause of a political 
struggle in Kansas was whether Kansas should be a free or slave 
State. After the invasion of 1855, a still more fearful issue arose, 
whether the people of Kansas should have the right to govern them- 
selves. It is for this we struggle. The rights of the people, the 
glory of republicanism on earth, the integrity of our Government, 
are all wrapped up in the issue. Truly, we can say, " never was so 
momentous a question submitted to the decision of any people, and 
we cannot avoid the alternatives now before us of glory or of 
shame." 

The rights of a free people we love, the Union we regard, the in- 
tegrity of the government we will maintain. The devotion of the 
people of Kansas to the Union is evidenced by the stern reality of 
their sufferings and their endurance. In wisdom and devotion the 
people of Kansas will struggle to preserve the Union, should they 
ever be permitted to enjoy the bands of sisterhood; they will do so 
by endeavoring to make the Union worth preserving, without which 
it will inevitably crumble in pieces. We may with sacrilegious hand 
tear from the tomb of Washington or Jefferson some perishable 
relic of the mortality of those who while living, were devoted to 
liberty and reverenced the claims of God and humanity, and, under 
the cover of the awe-striking symbol, incite the reluctant represeuta- 



APPENDIX 419 

tives of the people to acts disfranchising American citizens, robbing 
republicanism of all that is good in it. We may shout "The 
Union ! " " The Union ! " over acts of the most reckless despotism, 
and hurry our Government into oligarchy and anarchy under the 
delusion, but the delusion will not save us from the penalty of our 
folly and our crime. 

Let us then preserve the Union by maintaining the integrity 
of republicanism. 

It is a universal maxim that usurpers never voluntarily relin- 
quish their power. Under whatever guise it may come, the action of 
those who now pretend to hold Territorial power will be for the 
continuation of that power. 

For Gov. Walker to urge us into that flimsy trap in which they 
hope to ensnare our people is wrong; and to talk to us, in the con- 
nection of fairness and justice, is to add insult to wrong. 

While the great principle for which we have to contend is to 
maintain our right to self-government, the secondary consideration, 
of preserving Kansas a free State, is not to be lost sight of. It is 
of importance that the principles of Freedom should prevail, not only 
because the people have willed it, but because it is good policy, 
and above all, because it is right. Where would our prosperity be 
if slavery were entailed upon us? Where would the towns and 
cities, the railroads and commerce be, with such a plague-spot on 
our energies? The owls would hoot through the cities now laid out 
in Kansas, the railroads be confined to charters of usurped legislation. 

The industrious settler would shrink from the contamination of 
slave labor, that would degrade his manhood and his honest toil. 
Nor can we trace all the reasons by which the unerring finger of a 
just Providence guides the policy of every systematic wrong to a 
sure decay, and entails the curse that there should be no prosperity 
in the land that is stained by the tears and watered by the unpaid 
sweat of any portion of the children of men. 

There is indeed an " isothermal line " and a law of the thermome- 
ter " which may make slave labor comparatively profitable or un- 
profitable," but there is unhappily no " law of the thermometer " 
to prevent infatuated slavery propagandists from attempting to estab- 
lish the institution where wise policy says it never should be. It will 
therefore be an important duty in us to guard carefully against all 
the steps in such an insidious design; the more so, that ''policy" 



420 LIFE OF CHAELES EOBINSOIST 

and an " isothermal law " are united with the claims of republicanism 
and justice. 

Under these circumstances we can contemplate the duties before 
us, and with judicious calmness undertake them. We struggle for 
our birthright, and we must not sell it for a " mess of pottage." The 
eyes of the country are on us, for our cause is the common cause 
of all who love republicanism. In our defeat the principle on which 
the Government rests will sustain a shock; in our victory it will 
take root and be perpetuated. To you is confided no common share 
of the task. To you will be meted out the glory of victory or the mis- 
fortune of defeat. Be true, and we will triumph. Our task is dif- 
ficult: let us meet its responsibilities in full reliance on the wisdom 
of Him who is the God of Justice. A future of prosperity and use^ 
fulness is before the people of Kansas. A great State is rapidly 
expanding into prosperous existence. May we hope to establish in 
it a government not unworthy of this civilized age and our republi- 
can institutions. 

Charles Robinson. 

Topeka, June 9, 1857. 



APPENDIX 421 



EXTRACTS FROM GOVERNOR ROBINSON'S MESSAGE 
TO THE FIRST STATE LEGISLATURE, 1861. 

The past year has been one of unprecedented drouth, and conse- 
quent scarcity in Kansas. Our farmers, encouraged by the bountiful 
return for labor bestowed on the soil in the years past, had an 
unusual quantity of land under cultivation. With an ordinary sup- 
ply of rain, a large amount of produce would have been raised for 
export, and no people would have been more highly favored than our 
own. Instead, however, of plenty and consequent prosperity, many 
of our citizens have been the recipients of foreign charity. For the 
prompt and generous relief afforded by States and individuals, a 
suitable acknowledgment should be made by the Legislature; and 
it is proper to inquire if our State is not able to provide for its 
own poor in the future. No spirited and energetic people will be 
recipients of charity, when able to procure their own subsistence. 
Such a course would be demoralizing and degrading. If the State 
has sufficient credit it would be better to use it for the relief of 
her citizens, should it be necessary, than longer live upon the gen- 
erosity of others. Seed has already been furnished in abundance 
for spring planting, and by the first of June the stock that abounds 
upon our prairies will be suitable for food; it is therefore to be 
hoped that a general call for charity will soon cease. 

Although the past year has been one of adversity to our people, 
yet, with the stern integrity and mutual cooperation between the 
several departments of the Government, together with a firm reliance 
upon that Providence which has thus far sustained and directed us, 
and whose promise that seed-time and harvest shall not fail, inspires 
us with hope and courage in the darkest hour, we may confidently 
look forward to a happy and prosperous future for our new State. 

When Kansas applied for admission into the Union, it was sup- 
posed that there was a Federal Government that would endure 
until the present generation, at least, should pass away. Recent 
developments, however, have given rise to serious doubts as to its 
existence. Theoretically, such a government is extended over thirty- 
four States, but practically it does not exist in some. In seven 
States the laws are openly repudiated, the forts seized, the revenue 



422 



LIFE OF CHAKXES BOBINSON 



stolen, the Federal officers defied, and the flag of the nation insulted 
with impunity; and eight others threaten to do likewise if the Gov- 
ernment attempts to assert its authority by force in any rebellious 
State. Such is the condition of affairs as bequeathed by the late 
administration to the present. 

The future none can predict. Should matters progress as for a 
few months past, and coercion be decried as at present, not a promi- 
nent seaboard State will remain in the Union, and not a law of the 
United States will be enforced anywhere. Our Government, once re- 
garded as a power in the earth, will become a hissing and a byword 
among the nations, a stench in the nostrils of all men. This nation 
occupies a very remarkable position before the civilized world. It 
has heretofore been prompt and efficient in putting down treason and 
rebellion, and the whole force of the army and navy has been called 
into requisition at once whenever danger threatened. Shay's re- 
bellion, the whisky insurrection, South Carolina nullification and 
the John Brown raid, were all summarily disposed of with no cry 
against " coercion " ; now, when certain persons in the South have 
seized upon the revenues, forts, ships, postoffices, mints, arms, and 
army and navy stores, waged war upon the United States troops, set 
up an independent government and bid defiance to all law, the po- 
sition of the authorities has been simply that of non-resistance. 
Two independent and hostile governments cannot long exist at the 
same time over the same territory without conflict, and either the 
Confederate States of the South or the Federal Government must 
succumb, or civil war is inevitable. 

A demand is made by certain States that new concessions and 
guarantees be given to slavery, or the Union must be destroyed. The 
present Constitution, however faithfully adhered to, is declared to be 
incompatible with the existence of slavery; its change is demanded, 
or the government under it must be withdrawn. If it is true that 
the continued existence of slavery requires the destruction of the 
Union, it is time to ask if the existence of the Union does not re- 
quire the destruction of slavery. If such an issue be forced upon 
the nation, it must be met, and met promptly. The people of Kan- 
sas, while they are willing to fulfill their constitutional obligations 
toward their brethren in the sister States to the letter, even to the 
yielding of the " pound of flesh," cannot look upon the destruction 
of the fairest and most prosperous government on earth with in- 
difference. If the issue is presented to them, the overthrow of the 



APPENDIX 423 

Union or the destruction of slavery, they will not long hesitate* as 
to their choice. But it is to be hoped that this issue will be with- 
drawn, and the nation advance in its career of prosperity and power, 
the just pride of every citizen and the envy of the world. 

The position of the Federal Executive is a trying one. The Gov- 
ernment, when assumed by him, was rent in twain, the cry against 
coercion was heard in every quarter, his hands were tied, and he had 
neither men nor money, nor the authority to use either. While it 
is the duty of each loyal State to see that equal and exact justice 
i? done to the citizens of every other State, it is equally its duty to 
sustain the Chief Executive of the Xation in defending the Govern- 
ment from foes, whether from within or from without, and Kansas, 
though last and least of the States in the Union, will ever be ready 
tc answer the call of her country. 



424 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON" 



TOPEKA AND HER CONSTITUTION. 



Extract from an Address Delivered before the Kansas Historical 
Society, in the Winter of 1877-78. 

Nothing but the menacing attitude of the Topeka Constitution and 
Government compelled the Territorial officials to restore the ballot- 
box to the people. This is made clear by the proclamation of Gov- 
ernor Walker and Secretary Stanton, relative to the Oxford fraud, 
when they discarded that vote at the election of the Territorial 
Legislature in 1857. 

The Topeka Constitution was equally important as a rallying- 
point for the Free-State men. No mere party platform or organi- 
zation could have prevented the recognition of the Territorial Legis- 
lature and laws until, the people should have a fair election. The 
first Territorial Legislature had provided for " returning boards " 
for four years, and in that time slavery would be established and a 
Proslavery Constitution fastened upon the State. Eecognition of 
that usurpation would have been fatal, and the Topeka Constitution 
was the only instrumentality that rendered a prevention of that 
recognition possible. This was the grand mission of that Constitu- 
tion, and it was filled to perfection. The first successful battle 
against the Slave-Power of the country was fought under that 
banner. It was the beginning of the end of slavery in the United 
States. The tide of propagandism was stayed in its blighting 
course, and the refluent wave of Freedom swept over the land from 
Topeka to Florida, giving liberty and equality before the law to 
every human being, thus making our entire country, in fact as well 
as in name, " the land of the free " as well as the " home of the 
brave." 



APPENDIX 425 



EXTRACT FROM AN ADDRESS AT THE QUARTER-CENTEN- 
NIAL OF KANSAS. 

. . . No, no; the flood-tide of slavery received its first per- 
manent check in Kansas, and it was the refluent waves from her 
borders that carried Abraham Lincoln into the White House, drove 
the South into rebellion, and buried slavery so deep that for it there 
can be no resurrection. Not only is the State of Kansas thus in- 
debted to the Territory, but the late slave States that contended so 
earnestly to extend their peculiar institution are doubly* indebted. 
These States have not only been redeemed from a blighting curse, but 
have been prospered in every way as never before in their history. 
So general and widespread is their prosperity, that so far as known 
not a citizen can be found in the entire South who would reestablish 
slavery if he could. But the blessings resulting from the Territorial 
struggle do not stop here, for the nation itself has been born again, 
and with that birth which brings with it " peace on earth and good- 
will to men." The old contentions, bitterness, and irrepressible 
conflict between the North and South have given place to mutual 
respect, love, and good-will. The United States now constitute, 
in reality as well as in name, like institutions, like aspirations 
and a common destiny. Our Union, thus cemented, has become the 
envy of all nations, and a terror to all enemies. The freest, happiest, 
and most prosperous people on the globe, we have become a place of 
refuge for the oppressed of all nations. Such being the result of 
the Territorial conflict, well may the contestants embrace each other 
on the twenty-fifth birthday of this wonderful State, and henceforth 
dwell together in unity, under a Government that knows no North, 
no South, no East, no West, but that is " one and inseparable, now 
and forever." 



426 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 



EXTRACT FROM ADDRESS AT BISMARCK QUARTER- 
CENTENNIAL MEETING. 

. . . So much for Kansas and Kansas citizens; but great injus- 
tice would be done non-residents did we attempt to claim all the 
credit for the grand results of the last quarter of a century. At 
the opening of Kansas, slavery seized upon every town and district 
except such towns and districts as were settled by the agency of the 
Emigrant Aid Society. Without these settlements, it is safe to say, 
Kansas would have been a slave State, with not even an attempt at 
resistance. Without the Emigrant Aid Society these towns would 
not have been; and without Eli Thayer, Amos A. Lawrence, Edward 
Everett Hale, William M. Evarts, and their co-laborers, that society 
would have had no existence. And these men would have been power- 
less with all their machinery, had not the Liberty party and Free- 
Soil campaigns, under the lead of the Burneys, Hales, Julians, and 
others been fought; and these campaigns would have been stillborn 
had there been no Garrisons, Parker Pillsburys, Theodore Parkers 
and Wendell Phillipses to cry in the wilderness and prepare the 
way for the agencies that followed. 

Another class of actors rendered invaluable service near the 
close of the struggle, and must not be forgotten on this gala-day. 
The Walkers, Stantons, Denvers, Forneys and other conservative 
Democrats, by their impartial and honorable course prevented much 
bloodshed and cut short the struggle, perhaps years, by crushing 
out fraud and giving the government to the legal majority as de- 
manded by the Organic Act. 

Also, to our former proslavery antagonists who have so honorably 
acquiesced in the result, we most cordially extend the right hand 
of fellowship. We have reason to believe that many are well 
pleased with the institutions of the State, and all are forever to 
close the " bloody chasm " that once divided us. 

In conclusion, let me congratulate Kansas and our guests and all 
friends of Kansas, that the close of the first quarter of a century 
from its settlement finds peace and good-will among all its inhab- 
itants, and unprecedented prosperity throughout its borders. 



APPENDIX 427 



EXTRACTS FROM AN ADDRESS WRITTEN FOR THE RE- 
UNION AT LEAVENWORTH, OCTOBER, 1883. 

. . . Every question is said to have at least two sides, and in 
every war each side is supposed to have reasons for justification satis- 
factory to itself. In our late war one side claimed to be defending 
the life of the Government, while the other side professed to contend 
for the constitutional rights of the States. These were the ostensible 
questions involved, but the real casus belli, or bone of contention, 
was the freedom or slavery of a race of laborers. One side was 
fighting that all men, of whatever occupation or race, should belong 
to themselves, while the other would have the laborer the chattel of 
the employer. 

An " irrepressible conflict " between free and slave labor had 
been inherited from the mother country from the foundation of the 
Government. Slavery had remained in control of the Government for 
half a century, when the right of property in human beings was 
questioned as never before. Notwithstanding this questioning, slav- 
ery maintained its ascendency, removing all barriers to its progress, 
till a handful of men and women planted themselves on the soil of 
Kansas, directly in the path of the defiant monster which had started 
on a tour of the Territories and States, with Bunker Hill monument 
as its destination, where the roll of slaves was to be called beneath 
its shadow. This apparently insignificant obstacle in Kansas so 
irritated and enraged the slave-power that it became an easy prey 
to the Goddess of Liberty. Discomfitted and thwarted for the first 
time in its history, in obedience to the gods it became mad, and 
violently assailed the government it could no longer control. It was 
this assault that stirred the blood of every free man in Kansas and 
the nation, and filled our fair country with the graves of departed 
heroes and annual reunions of veteran soldiers. 

Our heroes, both living and dead, waged no war for national 
aggrandizement; to add new laurels to a kingly crown; to give 
additional power to privileged classes, or for personal benefits; — 
but they offered up all that men hold dear, that a poor, crushed and 
despised race of servile laborers might be raised to a higher plane, — 
might be changed from chattels to freemen; from abject slaves to 



428 



LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 



American citizens. History furnishes no parallel to this war, where 
a million men offered up their lives and fortunes, not for themselves 
or their kindred, but for an oppressed class of people, a class so 
degraded by long years of slavery as not to be able to appreciate the 
value of the sacrifice made in their behalf. 

Such were the men whose reunion we witness to-day; and let 
their names and deeds be cherished to the latest generations as 
benefactors of their race. 

One word in conclusion, to the Union veterans who annually 
gather at these reunions. The institution which caused the terrible 
conflict of arms has perished in the Red Sea of fraternal strife; 
the flowers of twenty summers have shed their perfume over the 
graves of your dead comrades ; the smoke of battle has vanished from 
sight; the passions of the hour are cool and spent, while all men, 
North, South, East and West, are ready to accept the situation as 
most conducive to the highest good of the nation. 

Since, then, the combatants in that deadly conflict are citizens of 
one government, with a common interest and a common destiny, let 
us kindly cherish that consideration and respect for the defeated 
combatants that one brave man always entertains for another, and 
show that consideration, respect and reconciliation by some appro- 
priate word or action on the annual recurrence of these gatherings. 

To love a friend and comrade is praiseworthy and human, but to 
forgive a defeated foe is noble and divine. 

" Sow love, and taste its fruitage pure ; 
Sow peace, and reap its harvest bright ; 
Sow sunbeams on the rock and moor, 
And find a harvest home of light." 



APPENDIX 429 



EXTRACTS FROM "THE KANSAS CONFLICT." 

Several lessons may be learned from the conflict in Kansas, and 
the conduct of the War of the Rebellion in the West, that may be of 
service to the oppressed, to philanthropists and statesmen. 

It will be seen that the remedy for oppression in a republican 
government is not the overthrow of that government, but resistance 
of oppression within it. If a people with votes in their hands, with 
power to replace every official, from President to constable; cannot 
exercise that power for their relief from oppression, a forcible over- 
throw of the Government would leave them at the mercy of designing 
men, who would as readily control the new government as the one 
destroyed.. A republican government is what the people make it, 
and if not what it should be, they only are to blame. The safety of 
such a government depends upon the education of the voters; and 
the remedy for injustice in any direction is exposure of the wrong 
and agitation for the right. Defensive opposition to wrong and 
oppression with prudence will succeed, while offensive oppression 
to the Government itself will fail. Amos A. Lawrence once said: 
" The Government may have many faults, but let it be assailed from 
any quarter and the whole people will rally for its defense." In 
resisting oppression no wrong or outrage must be committed by the 
oppressed. They depend for relief upon the sympathy or sense of 
justice of the people not directly interested ; and so long as oppression 
only is resisted, this sympathy will be with the oppressed, but so 
long as the oppressed or wronged turn oppressors and wrong innocent 
parties, all sympathy ceases. 

The Free-State party of Kansas retained the sympathy of the North 
because it did nothing that could be called wrong in itself to any 
man, but acted strictly on the defensive. [Chapter XVIII, pp. 461, 
462, " The Kansas Conflict."] 

It is not easy to conjecture what greater victory the Free-State 
men could gain, or what greater defeat the Proslavery men could 
suffer, than to have 1,900 men march from forty to one hundred 
and fifty miles to serve a warrant issued by a justice of the peace, 
and then return, after cursing, swearing, shivering and freezing for 



4:30 LIFE OF CHARLES EOBINSON 

two weeks, as they came, minus the whisky, without serving any 
process whatever, legal or otherwise. If a more brilliant victory 
has ever been gained it has not been recorded. How many such de- 
feats could the Administration afford in enforcing " popular sov- 
ereignty " where the people were to be left perfectly free to settle 
their institutions in their own way, subject only to the Consti- 
tution of the United States? 

And what of the Free-State men called " dastards," who obeyed 
orders and suffered wrong without doing wrong? It is safe to say an 
equal number of men, with a more unflinching courage, both moral 
and physical, has not been seen since the days of the Revolution. 

A coward can give blow for blow, eye for eye, and tooth for tooth, 
but it requires true courage to suffer wrong without retaliation that 
a great cause may be advanced. The Free-State men believed that 
every outrage inflicted strengthened their cause and correspondingly 
weakened that of their opponents; that in their sufferings lay their 
strength. In this respect, the Wakarusa War, while causing great 
annoyance and suffering, had enlisted the sympathies and support of 
the civilized world. [Chapter VIII, p. 209, " The Kansas Conflict."] 

Something of the nature of the conflict in Kansas may be learned 
from the characteristics of the contestants. Settlers from the North 
and East came from communities where person and property were 
protected by law, and the carrying of weapons for self-defense was 
unknown. Many had come to look upon war among nations as a 
relic of barbarism. Not a few of the Kansas emigrants had imbibed 
something of the views and spirit of the non-resistant agitators, and 
were supposed to interpret the teachings of the Nazarene literally: 
to return good for evil; when one cheek should be smitten, to turn 
the other to the smiter; and if compelled to part with their coats, to 
give their cloaks also. As a rule, the Free-State settlers were averse 
to a resort to physical force in the settlement of any conflict, much 
less a conflict purely moral and political. 

These were some of the characteristics of the Northern settlers 
while at home, but they were found unsuited to a Southern and 
Western climate. It was found that the precepts of Christianity, 
including non-resistance, might work admirably where all were 
Christians and non-resistants, but it was also discovered that the 
devil would flee only when resisted, and that pearls were not suitable 
diet for all animals and on all occasions. 



APPENDIX 431 

The South and Southwest were in many respects most unlike the 
East and North. Where a large class was to be kept in servitude, 
nothing but physical force would avail. Hence deadly weapons and 
personal prowess were indispensable, and the man who would pass 
current as a gentleman must be prepared at all times to protect his 
person and his honor by force. Also in the new West, in the absence 
of the civil code, every man was a law unto himself and constituted 
in his own person judge, jury, and executioner. In such a com- 
munity human life, instead of being sacred as in the North and East, 
was cheap, and could be sacrificed at any time to resent personal 
insult and to protect peculiar institutions, if not for sordid gain. 
At the same time the better class of the citizens of the South had 
a high sense of honor, and could not be excelled in any part of the 
country for civility, courtesy, hospitality, and business integrity." 
[Chapter III, pp. 26, 27, " The Kansas Conflict."] 



432 LIFE OF CHAKLES EOBINSOIST 



IMPORTANT LETTERS. 

[ The following is a draft of a letter sent by Amos A. Lawrence to be re-written and 
signed by Mrs. Robinson and addressed to Mrs. Lawrence, the mother of Amos A. Law- 
rence. The letter was sent by Mrs. Lawrence to Mrs. Pierce, wife of the President, 
who gave it to the President to read.] 

Fobt Leavenworth, Kansas Territory. 

My Dear Madam: I take the liberty of a wife brought into great 
distress by the imprisonment of him whom I most love, to ask for 
your aid in obtaining for him that justice which will lead to his re- 
lease. You will know something of me if you remember my father, 
the late Myron Lawrence, of Belchertown, an acquaintance of your 
lamented husband and his brothers, for all of whom he had a high 
regard and with whom he often had intercourse during the many 
winters that he remained in Boston serving his town in the Legisla- 
ture, and afterward the county of Hampshire in the Senate, of which 
he was the President. You will easily recall his personal appear- 
ance, and in my partiality for him I believed that his heart was large 
in proportion to his body. My husband is Dr. Charles Robinson, 
a friend of your son, to whom I was married three years since, and 
to join whom I left my widowed mother last autumn and came to 
this Territory. He is in every respect worthy of the confidence re- 
posed in him; he has sacrificed ease and personal advantage to make 
a home here for the thousands who emigrate from the old States, 
and to secure this vast region from the evils of slavery. He is a 
loyal citizen of the United States, whose laws he has always obeyed 
and in whose defense he would at any time sacrifice his life. If he 
has any fault, it is that he is bound less by his domestic ties than 
by his love for liberty and his country. 

You are aware that all this Territory was made forever sacred to 
freedom by the law of the United States in 1820. Two years ago 
this law was repealed at the instigation, in the first place, of in- 
habitants of western Missouri, acting through David R. Atchison, 
then Vice-President of the United States, and the question of its 
being made a Free or a Slave State was to be left to the bona fide 
settlers. It was believed that efforts had been making and would 
be continued in Missouri to perpetuate in it the same institutions 
as exist there; and to ascertain this, and to explore this country, 



APPENDIX 433 

Dr. Robinson came out here at the request of your son and others. 
He was well adapted for the enterprise, besides having previously 
traveled through it, and his feelings revolted at the prospect of its 
being given over to slavery. He executed the trust with alacrity, 
and the information which he imparted induced settlers from all the 
States to turn their eyes in this direction. At the same time he be- 
came acquainted with the plans which had been made under the name 
of " Self-Defensive " associations and " Blue Lodges," to keep out 
the citizens of the Free States, who were regarded as "Abolitionists," 
and have been treated as such. After this he was employed to give 
accurate information to the settlers who came out; to erect saw- 
mills, school-houses, receiving and forwarding houses and one large 
hotel. This is the only agency in w T hich he has been employed, and 
these afford the only advantages given to the settlers by those for 
whom he as acted. He has never favored a resort to arms, except 
for defense, and he has gone unarmed himself. In all his transac- 
tions he retained the confidence of his friends in the other States, 
and he won that of the real settlers, who looked to him as a safe ad- 
viser and friend. After it was found by humiliating experience that 
the real inhabitants were not allowed to elect their own represent- 
atives nor to make their own laws, he was regarded as the most 
suitable person to lead them in resisting their execution. This trust 
he accepted with a deep feeling of his obligations to obey and uphold 
the authority of the Federal Government. His resistance has been 
to the Territorial Government, established by the inhabitants of 
another State, and to the laws enacted by it, repugnant as they are 
to the sentiments of constitutional liberty and to the sentiments 
of all honorable men. For this he and his associates are called 
" rebels " and " traitors," and he is now in prison, and is to be tried 
by those whose authority he has defied and who demand his sacri- 
fice. All this is done with the sanction of the Executive of the 
United States, and so deliberately that I tremble for the result. 
Already the legally appointed representative of the United States 
Government, Governor Shannon, has said and repeated that "He 
is certain to be tried, and if tried he will be convicted, and if con- 
victed he will be hung." God grant that this may not be so. Let them 
take my poor life rather than his. They little know his worth, — or 
rather, as I fear, they know it too well, and they know that by his 
death they hope more readily to subjugate this Territory. 

He endeavors to quiet my fears, and tells me that such a result 



434 LIFE OF CHARLES ROBINSON 

is impossible. But so he said in regard to the election; he did not 
believe that would be carried by an invading force which trampled 
down the ballot-boxes and threatened the lives of the legally chosen 
judges. So he said in regard to the first invasion, though it after- 
ward required all his skill to avert a collision. So he told nie in re- 
gard to the last invasion — that our houses and property would not be 
molested if there were no resistance; and yet they have burned the 
most valuable buildings in the Territory and robbed and insulted 
the inhabitants beyond forbearance; our own house rifled and 
burned — a severe loss, and the more so because it contained the me- 
mentoes of my father, who was very dear to me. My husband con- 
fides too much in the generosity of his enemies, and it is this 
which fills me with fear. I cannot but give weight to the assertions 
of Gov. Shannon, publicly made, that he will he hung. 

Pardon me, my dear Madam, for this long statement. I could say 
a thousand things in addition, but forbear. The President of the 
United States is your relative. He will soon know, if he does not 
already, that the real settlers have been allowed to take no part in 
framing the Territorial laws, which he upholds with the authority 
of the United States. I beg your good offices in behalf of my hus- 
band. He has not resisted the authority of the United States Gov- 
ernment, and he never will; he has not believed that it would be 
exerted to support so odious an oppression. This Territory cannot 
be made a slave State except with the assistance of the Executive. 
Until recently the real settlers have been Free-State men, three to 
one, and they are now driven away. 



New York, June 20, '56. 

My Dear Madam: I have had considerable conversation with 
Messrs. Howard and Sherman, as well as Gov. Reeder, — with the 
latter while in Boston, and now here; and as they are all lawyers 
and good ones, as well as statesmen, the united opinion of all at this 
time is better than that of any others. 

The conclusion which I draw is, that Gov. Robinson cannot be 
harmed by any action of the law. Still, you had better send a letter 
to my mother, unless you are averse to doing so, to be kept in re- 
serve. I think her request in a certain quarter would not be refused 
for anything, for reasons which need not be named here. 

To-day I have testified before the Committee of Congress, who 
summoned me here. Gov. Reeder did the same. 



APPENDIX 435 

The proof would condemn a legion of angels, and their united re- 
port is excellent. It will put a different aspect on affairs; in fact, 
the light has broke already in many dark places. 
With kind regards to Gov. R., I remain, 

Yours very truly, 

[Amos A. Lawrence.] 
Having no seal, I will not sign. 



Senate Chamber, May 21st, 1858. 

Mrs. Robinson: Your letter came duly to hand, and I have been 
daily to the postoffice since I received it, but I find no letters for 
your husband or yourself. If any come, I will forward them to you 
as requested. It may be that letters sent to you have been plun- 
dered from the mails. 

I deeply regret the arrest of your husband; so do all our friends 
here, especially those who have the honor to know him. God only 
knows what will be the end of this conflict in Kansas, but whatever 
may be the result, your husband has linked his name forever with 
the cause of freedom in America. 

If I can do anything for you or your friends, it will afford me 
the highest pleasure to do so at any time. 

Yours truly, 

Henry Wilson. 



INDEX. 



PAGE. 

Abolitionists, in early Kansas, 10 ; 

oppose colonization 102 

Adams, Sarah, wife of Eobinson 40 

Allen, " Old Man " 72 

Amherst Academy 35 

Barber 153 

Baldwin, John 117 

Belchertown 385 

Big Springs Convention 174 

Blanton Bridge Affair 140 

Bogus Legislature 169 

Border warfare 252 

Boston Company 42, 43 

Eranson rescue 140 

Branscomb, Charles H 110 

Brown, John, 19 ; at Lawrence, 152, 
205 ; Pottawatomie, 252 : Contro- 
versy 314 

California 42, 43, 51 

Carney, Governor 291 

Chase, Salmon P 91 

Childs, Doctor 36, 37 

Cholera 45 

Clarke, Edward 24 

Clay, Henry, Compromise of 1850 .... 89 

Congress 90, seq., 20, 234, 238 

Connelley, W. E 333 

Controversy, over fraudulent elec- 
tion, 16 : California lands, 52 ; 
Brown-Lane-Robinson, 17, 20, 314 : 

temperance 308, 370 

Cordley, Doctor 354, 358 

Deitzler, George W 24, 274 

Democrats in early Kansas 10 

Denver, Governor 238, 258 

Douglas, Stephen A 89 

Dow-Coleman Affair 138 

Dwight, Clarissa 390 

Election 125 

Emigrant Aid Company 85, 100, 107 

Excelsior 118 



PAGE. 

Farmers' Alliance 300 

Fitchburg 83, 389, scq. 

Free-State men, 10, 14, 15; Constitu- 
tional struggle for liberty, 165 ; 
convention, 166, 191, 240, 245 ; win 
election 232, 233 

Fremont, John C, 80, 274 ; letter 161 

Geary, Governor 207, 216 

Giddings, Joshua E 91 

Goldsbury, Mr 23 

Goodin, J. K., 24 ; speaks of Robin- 
son 358, 36u 

Grange 299 

Grasshopper Falls Convention 231 

Greeley, Horace, in New York Trib- 
une 93 

Gridley, Doctor 36, 39 

Guadalupe Hidalgo treaty 52 

Hadley Academy 34 

Haskell Institute 351 

" Higher Law," appealed to — 61, 75, 76 

Holliday, Cyrus K 24 

Holland, Doctor 40 

Howland, Doctor 379 

Independent, in early Kansas lo 

Jones, Sheriff 141 

Kansas, history, 9, 10, 11 ; early set- 
tlers, 16; "Conflict," 87, seq.; bo- 
gus legislature, 130, seq.; becomes 
a State. 245, 268 ; railroad, 259 : 

'■hard times," 2% 

Kansas University 342. 343 

Kansas-Nebraska Bill, 14, 85, 89, seq. ; 
debate over, 91 : passage 97 

Lane, James H., politician, 18; sol- 
dier, 147, 255 : president of Topeka 

Convention, 183 ; Senator 270, 272 

Laughlin-Collins Affair 127 

Lawrence, Amos A 104, 302, 336, 432 

Lawrence, Myron 3S7 



(437) 



438 



INDEX 



PAGE. 

Lawrence, Sara T. D., meets Robin- 
son, 39 ; letter, 64 ; marriage, 84. 
(See Robinson, Mrs. T. D.) 

Lawrence, Kansas, first settlement, 
111 ; first newspaper, 124 ; threat- 
ened, 146 ; destruction of, 197, 205 ; 
invasion of by the 2700, 209; char- 
ter, 226 ; Free-State Convention .... 233 

Learnard, organization of Republican 
Party 24 

Leavenworth Convention 239, 241 

Lecompton Constitution 16, 216, 217 

233, 234 

Legate, James F 24, 201 

Maloney, 66 ; death of 71 

Manifesto i 52 

Martin, George W 320 

McDougal, Lieutenant-Governor 71 

Militia, in squatter riots 73 

Minneola 239 

Missouri, citizens of, in Kansas, 116, 

320 ; rival claims 117, 125 

Missouri Compromise 89 

Noyes, John W., preacher 37 

Osawatomie Convention 246 

Parker, Theodore, speech 94 

Pierce, President, message 195 

Platte river adventure 50 

PreRS influence 96 

Quantrell Raid 84, 302 

Quindaro 214, 263 

Reeder, first Territorial Governor of 
Kansas, 24, 123, 168, 181 ; contests 

election of Whitfield 198 

Republican Party 24, 246, 249, 284 

Robinson, Charles, agent of Emigrant 
Aid Company, 17 ; birth and ances- 
ce3try, 27, 29 ; religion, 30, 31, 367 ; 
education, 33-35; medical studies 
and practice, 36, seq.; meets future 
wife, 38 ; marriage, 40 ; en route 
for California, 42, seq.; Sacramento 
affairs, 51, seq.; quits California, 
81 ; home again, 83 ; starts for Kan- 
sas, 83 ; second marriage, 84 ; ar- 
rives in Kansas, 110, seq.; letter 
to Thayer, 130; Convention of 



PAGE. 

Free-State men, 166; arrest, 201; 
in New York, 213 ; resignation, 214- 
219 ; elected Governor, 250, 255, 268 ; 
war, 272 ; impeachment, 285; "Oak- 
ridge," 293 ; Senate, 301 ; quits Re- 
publican party, 301, 375 ; author, 
305 ; character of, 310, 356 ; educa- 
tional worker, 22, 334, 349, 351; 
death, 378 ; speeches and messages 
of, 133, 397, seq.; 399, 402,408,412, 

421, 424, 425, 426, 427, 429 
Robinson, Mrs. Sara T. D . . . . 105, 158, 206 
Royce, view of Robinson 74 

Sacramento, 51 ; squatter riot 57 

Scott, Charles F 347 

Settlers' and Miners' Tribune 79 

Seward 91 

Shannon, Governor 137 

Slavery, question in Kansas, 14, 87, 
seq.; 128, seq.; Robinson's opin- 
ion of 80 

Smith, S. C 24 

Snow, Chancellor 346, 355, 376 

Snow, Benjamin 83 

Speer, John 24 

Stanton, Fred P 219, seq. 

Stone, William B 29, 33, 383 

Sumner, Charles 91 

Sunday traveling 48 

Sutter, land troubles 54, seq., 76 

Tappan, opinion of Robinson 361 

Territorial Convention 165 

Territorial Legislature, 169, 216, 234, 242 

Thayer, Eli 100, 115 

Topeka Constitution, 161, 183, 220, 229, 230 
Trask, Josiah 84, 394 

Voting, illegal voters 151, 125 

Wade, Senator B. F 7, 91 

Walker, Governor 219, 227, 282 

Walker, Sam 24 

Wakarusa War 138, 264 

Whigs, in early Kansas 10 

Whittier, poems 114, 154 

Winn, A. W 67 

Wood, S.N 24, 143 

Woodward, B. W 24, 347 

Wyandotte Constitutional Conven- 
tion 16, 243 



JA« 17 1902 






